Method and apparatus for audio biometric data capture

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for audio biometric data capture are provided. The apparatus includes in interactive head-mounted eyepiece worn by a user that includes an optical assembly through which a user views a surrounding environment and displayed content. The optical assembly comprises a corrective element that corrects the user&#39;s view of the surrounding environment and an integrated processor for handling content to the user. An integrated optical sensor captures visual biometric data when the eyepiece is positioned so that a nearby individual is proximate to the eyepiece. Audio biometric data is captured using multiple microphones mounted in an endfire array in the eyepiece. The remote processing facility interprets the captured audio biometric data and generates display content based on the interpretation. This display content is delivered to the eyepiece and displayed to the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of the following United Statesnonprovisional patent applications, each of which is incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/037,324, filed Feb. 28, 2011 andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/037,335, filed Feb. 28, 2011, eachof which claim the benefit of the following provisional applications,each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety: U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/308,973, filed Feb. 28,2010; U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/373,791, filed Aug. 13,2010; U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/382,578, filed Sep. 14,2010; U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/410,983, filed Nov. 8,2010; U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/429,445, filed Jan. 3,2011; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/429,447, filed Jan. 3,2011.

This application claims the benefit of the following United Statesprovisional applications, each of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety:

U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/373,791, filed Aug. 13, 2010;U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/382,578, filed Sep. 14, 2010;U.S. Provisional Patent Application 61/410,983, filed Nov. 8, 2010; U.S.Provisional Patent Application 61/429,445, filed Jan. 3, 2011; and U.S.Provisional Patent Application 61/429,447, filed Jan. 3, 2011.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure relates to an augmented reality eyepiece,associated control technologies, and applications for use.

SUMMARY

In one embodiment, an eyepiece may include a nano-projector (ormicro-projector) comprising a light source and an LCoS display, a (twosurface) freeform wave guide lens enabling TIR bounces, a coupling lensdisposed between the LCoS display and the freeform waveguide, and awedge-shaped optic (translucent correction lens) adhered to thewaveguide lens that enables proper viewing through the lens whether theprojector is on or off. The projector may include an RGB LED module. TheRGB LED module may emit field sequential color, wherein the differentcolored LEDs are turned on in rapid succession to form a color imagethat is reflected off the LCoS display. The projector may have apolarizing beam splitter or a projection collimator.

In one embodiment, an eyepiece may include a freeform wave guide lens, afreeform translucent correction lens, a display coupling lens and amicro-projector.

In another embodiment, an eyepiece may include a freeform wave guidelens, a freeform correction lens, a display coupling lens and amicro-projector, providing a FOV of at least 80-degrees and a VirtualDisplay FOV (Diagonal) of ˜25-30°.

In an embodiment, an eyepiece may include an optical wedge waveguideoptimized to match with the ergonomic factors of the human head,allowing it to wrap around a human face.

In another embodiment, an eyepiece may include two freeform opticalsurfaces and waveguide to enable folding the complex optical pathswithin a very thin prism form factor.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly, wherein the displayed content comprises an interactive controlelement; and an integrated camera facility that images the surroundingenvironment, and identifies a user hand gesture as an interactivecontrol element location command, wherein the location of theinteractive control element remains fixed with respect to an object inthe surrounding environment, in response to the interactive controlelement location command, regardless of a change in the viewingdirection of the user.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly; wherein the displayed content comprises an interactive controlelement; and an integrated camera facility that images a user's bodypart as it interacts with the interactive control element, wherein theprocessor removes a portion of the interactive control element bysubtracting the portion of the interactive control element that isdetermined to be co-located with the imaged user body part based on theuser's view.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly. The displayed content may comprise an interactive keyboardcontrol element, and where the keyboard control element is associatedwith an input path analyzer, a word matching search facility, and akeyboard input interface. The user may input text by sliding a pointingdevice (e.g. a finger, a stylus, and the like) across character keys ofthe keyboard input interface in an sliding motion through an approximatesequence of a word the user would like to input as text, wherein theinput path analyzer determines the characters contacted in the inputpath, the word matching facility finds a best word match to the sequenceof characters contacted and inputs the best word match as input text.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly; and an integrated camera facility that images an externalvisual cue, wherein the integrated processor identifies and interpretsthe external visual cue as a command to display content associated withthe visual cue. The visual cue may be a sign in the surroundingenvironment, and where the projected content is associated with anadvertisement. The sign may be a billboard, and the advertisement apersonalized advertisement based on a preferences profile of the user.The visual cue may be a hand gesture, and the projected content aprojected virtual keyboard. The hand gesture may be a thumb and indexfinger gesture from a first user hand, and the virtual keyboardprojected on the palm of the first user hand, and where the user is ableto type on the virtual keyboard with a second user hand. The handgesture may be a thumb and index finger gesture combination of both userhands, and the virtual keyboard projected between the user hands asconfigured in the hand gesture, where the user is able to type on thevirtual keyboard using the thumbs of the user's hands.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly; and an integrated camera facility that images a gesture,wherein the integrated processor identifies and interprets the gestureas a command instruction. The control instruction may providemanipulation of the content for display, a command communicated to anexternal device, and the like.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly; and a tactile control interface mounted on the eyepiece thataccepts control inputs from the user through at least one of a usertouching the interface and the user being proximate to the interface.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly; and at least one of a plurality of head motion sensing controldevices integrated with the eyepiece that provide control commands tothe processor as command instructions based upon sensing a predefinedhead motion characteristic.

The head motion characteristic may be a nod of the user's head such thatthe nod is an overt motion dissimilar from ordinary head motions. Theovert motion may be a jerking motion of the head. The controlinstructions may provide manipulation of the content for display, becommunicated to control an external device, and the like.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly, wherein the optical assembly includes an electrochromic layerthat provides a display characteristic adjustment that is dependent ondisplayed content requirements and surrounding environmental conditions.In embodiments, the display characteristic may be brightness, contrast,and the like. The surrounding environmental condition may be a level ofbrightness that without the display characteristic adjustment would makethe displayed content difficult to visualize by the wearer of theeyepiece, where the display characteristic adjustment may be applied toan area of the optical assembly where content is being projected.

In embodiments, the eyepiece may be an interactive head-mounted eyepieceworn by a user wherein the eyepiece includes and optical assemblythrough which the user may view a surrounding environment and displayedcontent. The optical assembly may comprise a corrective element thatcorrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, and anintegrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly. Further, the eyepiece may include an adjustable wrap roundextendable arm comprising any shape memory material for securing theposition of the eyepiece on the user's head. The extendable arm mayextend from an end of an eyepiece arm. The end of a wrap aroundextendable arm may be covered with silicone. Further, the extendablearms may meet and secure to each other or they may independently grasp aportion of the head. In other embodiments, the extendable arm may attachto a portion of the head mounted eyepiece to secure the eyepiece to theuser's head. In embodiments, the extendable arm may extendtelescopically from the end of the eyepiece arm. In other embodiments,at least one of the wrap around extendable arms may be detachable fromthe head mounted eyepiece. Also, the extendable arm may be an add-onfeature of the head mounted eyepiece.

In embodiments, the eyepiece may be an interactive head-mounted eyepieceworn by a user wherein the eyepiece includes and optical assemblythrough which the user may view a surrounding environment and displayedcontent. The optical assembly may comprise a corrective element thatcorrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, and anintegrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly. Further, the displayed content may comprise a localadvertisement wherein the location of the eyepiece is determined by anintegrated location sensor. Also, the local advertisement may haverelevance to the location of the eyepiece. In other embodiments, theeyepiece may contain a capacitive sensor capable of sensing whether theeyepiece is in contact with human skin. The local advertisement may besent to the user based on whether the capacitive sensor senses that theeyepiece is in contact with human skin. The local advertisements mayalso be sent in response to the eyepiece being powered on.

In other embodiments, the local advertisement may be displayed to theuser as a banner advertisement, two dimensional graphic, or text.Further, advertisement may be associated with a physical aspect of thesurrounding environment. In yet other embodiments, the advertisement maybe displayed as an augmented reality associated with a physical aspectof the surrounding environment. The augmented reality advertisement maybe two or three-dimensional. Further, the advertisement may be animatedand it may be associated with the user's view of the surroundingenvironment. The local advertisements may also be displayed to the userbased on a web search conducted by the user and displayed in the contentof the search results. Furthermore, the content of the localadvertisement may be determined based on the user's personalinformation. The user's personal information may be available to a webapplication or an advertising facility. The user's information may beused by a web application, an advertising facility or eyepiece to filterthe local advertising based on the user's personal information. A localadvertisement may be cashed on a server where it may be accessed by atleast one of an advertising facility, web application and eyepiece anddisplayed to the user.

In another embodiment, the user may request additional informationrelated to a local advertisement by making any action of an eyemovement, body movement and other gesture. Furthermore, a user mayignore the local advertisement by making any an eye movement, bodymovement and other gesture or by not selecting the advertisement forfurther interaction within a given period of time from when theadvertisement is displayed. In yet other embodiments, the user mayselect to not allow local advertisements to be displayed by selectingsuch an option on a graphical user interface. Alternatively, the usermay not allow such advertisements by tuning such feature off via acontrol on said eyepiece.

In one embodiment, the eyepiece may include an audio device. Further,the displayed content may comprise a local advertisement and audio. Thelocation of the eyepiece may be determined by an integrated locationsensor and the local advertisement and audio may have a relevance to thelocation of the eyepiece. As such, a user may hear audio thatcorresponds to the displayed content and local advertisements.

In an aspect, the interactive head-mounted eyepiece may include anoptical assembly, through which the user views a surrounding environmentand displayed content, wherein the optical assembly includes acorrective element that corrects the user's view of the surroundingenvironment and an optical waveguide with a first and a second surfaceenabling total internal reflections. The eyepiece may also include anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly. In this aspect, displayed content may be introduced into theoptical waveguide at an angle of internal incidence that does not resultin total internal reflection. However, the eyepiece also includes amirrored surface on the first surface of the optical waveguide toreflect the displayed content towards the second surface of the opticalwaveguide. Thus, the mirrored surface enables a total reflection of thelight entering the optical waveguide or a reflection of at least aportion of the light entering the optical waveguide. In embodiments, thesurface may be 100% mirrored or mirrored to a lower percentage. In someembodiments, in place of a mirrored surface, an air gap between thewaveguide and the corrective element may cause a reflection of the lightthat enters the waveguide at an angle of incidence that would not resultin TIR.

In one aspect, the interactive head-mounted eyepiece may include anoptical assembly, through which the user views a surrounding environmentand displayed content, wherein the optical assembly includes acorrective element that corrects the user's view of the surroundingenvironment and an integrated processor for handling content for displayto the user. The eyepiece further includes an integrated image sourcethat introduces the content to the optical assembly from a side of theoptical waveguide adjacent to an arm of the eyepiece, wherein thedisplayed content aspect ratio is between approximately square toapproximately rectangular with the long axis approximately horizontal.

In an, the interactive head-mounted eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which a user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly includes a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, afreeform optical waveguide enabling internal reflections, and a couplinglens positioned to direct an image from an LCoS display to the opticalwaveguide. The eyepiece further includes an integrated processor forhandling content for display to the user and an integrated projectorfacility for projecting the content to the optical assembly, wherein theprojector facility comprises a light source and the LCoS display,wherein light from the light source is emitted under control of theprocessor and traverses a polarizing beam splitter where it is polarizedbefore being reflected off the LCoS display and into the opticalwaveguide. In another aspect, the interactive head-mounted eyepiece,includes an optical assembly through which a user views a surroundingenvironment and displayed content, wherein the optical assembly includesa corrective element that corrects the user's view of the surroundingenvironment, an optical waveguide enabling internal reflections, and acoupling lens positioned to direct an image from an optical display tothe optical waveguide. The eyepiece further includes an integratedprocessor for handling content for display to the user, and anintegrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly, wherein the image source comprises a light source and theoptical display. The corrective element may be a see-through correctionlens attached to the optical waveguide that enables proper viewing ofthe surrounding environment whether the image source or projectorfacility is on or off. The freeform optical waveguide may include dualfreeform surfaces that enable a curvature and a sizing of the waveguide,wherein the curvature and the sizing enable placement of the waveguidein a frame of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece. The light sourcemay be an RGB LED module that emits light sequentially to form a colorimage that is reflected off the optical or LCoS display. The eyepiecemay further include a homogenizer through which light from the lightsource is propagated to ensure that the beam of light is uniform. Asurface of the polarizing beam splitter reflects the color image fromthe optical or LCoS display into the optical waveguide. The eyepiece mayfurther include a collimator that improves the resolution of the lightentering the optical waveguide. Light from the light source may beemitted under control of the processor and traverse a polarizing beamsplitter where it is polarized before being reflected off the opticaldisplay and into the optical waveguide. The optical display may be atleast one of an LCoS and an LCD display. The image source may be aprojector, and wherein the projector is at least one of amicroprojector, a nanoprojector, and a picoprojector. The eyepiecefurther includes a polarizing beam splitter that polarizes light fromthe light source before being reflected off the LCoS display and intothe optical waveguide, wherein a surface of the polarizing beam splitterreflects the color image from the LCoS display into the opticalwaveguide.

In an embodiment, an apparatus for biometric data capture is provided.Biometric data may be visual biometric data, such as facial biometricdata or iris biometric data, or may be audio biometric data. Theapparatus includes an optical assembly through which a user views asurrounding environment and displayed content. The optical assembly alsoincludes a corrective element that corrects the user's view of thesurrounding environment. An integrated processor handles content fordisplay to the user on the eyepiece. The eyepiece also incorporates anintegrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly. Biometric data capture is accomplished with an integratedoptical sensor assembly. Audio data capture is accomplished with anintegrated endfire microphone array. Processing of the capturedbiometric data occurs remotely and data is transmitted using anintegrated communications facility. A remote computing facilityinterprets and analyzes the captured biometric data, generates displaycontent based on the captured biometric data, and delivers the displaycontent to the eyepiece.

A further embodiment provides a camera mounted on the eyepiece forobtaining biometric images of an individual proximate to the eyepiece.

A yet further embodiment provides a method for biometric data capture.In the method an individual is placed proximate to the eyepiece. Thismay be accomplished by the wearer of the eyepiece moving into a positionthat permits the capture of the desired biometric data. Once positioned,the eyepiece captures biometric data and transmits the capturedbiometric data to a facility that stores the captured biometric data ina biometric data database. The biometric data database incorporates aremote computing facility that interprets the received data andgenerates display content based on the interpretation of the capturedbiometric data. This display content is then transmitted back to theuser for display on the eyepiece.

A yet further embodiment provides a method for audio biometric datacapture. In the method an individual is placed proximate to theeyepiece. This may be accomplished by the wearer of the eyepiece movinginto a position that permits the capture of the desired audio biometricdata. Once positioned, the microphone array captures audio biometricdata and transmits the captured audio biometric data to a facility thatstores the captured audio biometric data in a biometric data database.The audio biometric data database incorporates a remote computingfacility that interprets the received data and generates display contentbased on the interpretation of the captured audio biometric data. Thisdisplay content is then transmitted back to the user for display on theeyepiece.

In embodiments, the eyepiece includes a see-through correction lensattached to an exterior surface of the optical waveguide that enablesproper viewing of the surrounding environment whether there is displayedcontent or not. The see-through correction lens may be a prescriptionlens customized to the user's corrective eyeglass prescription. Thesee-through correction lens may be polarized and may attach to at leastone of the optical waveguide and a frame of the eyepiece, wherein thepolarized correction lens blocks oppositely polarized light reflectedfrom the user's eye. The see-through correction lens may attach to atleast one of the optical waveguide and a frame of the eyepiece, whereinthe correction lens protects the optical waveguide, and may include atleast one of a ballistic material and an ANSI-certified polycarbonatematerial.

In one embodiment, an interactive head-mounted eyepiece includes aneyepiece for wearing by a user, an optical assembly mounted on theeyepiece through which the user views a surrounding environment and adisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the environment, an integratedprocessor for handling content for display to the user, an integratedimage source for introducing the content to the optical assembly, and anelectrically adjustable lens integrated with the optical assembly thatadjusts a focus of the displayed content for the user.

One embodiment concerns an interactive head-mounted eyepiece. Thisinteractive head-mounted eyepiece includes an eyepiece for wearing by auser, an optical assembly mounted on the eyepiece through which the userviews a surrounding environment and a displayed content, wherein theoptical assembly comprises a corrective element that corrects a user'sview of the surrounding environment, and an integrated processor of theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece for handling content for display tothe user. The interactive head-mounted eyepiece also includes anelectrically adjustable liquid lens integrated with the opticalassembly, an integrated image source of the interactive head-mountedeyepiece for introducing the content to the optical assembly, and amemory operably connected with the integrated processor, the memoryincluding at least one software program for providing a correction forthe displayed content by adjusting the electrically adjustable liquidlens.

Another embodiment is an interactive head-mounted eyepiece for wearingby a user. The interactive head-mounted eyepiece includes an opticalassembly mounted on the eyepiece through which the user views asurrounding environment and a displayed content, wherein the opticalassembly comprises a corrective element that corrects the user's view ofthe displayed content, and an integrated processor for handling contentfor display to the user. The interactive head-mounted eyepiece alsoincludes an integrated image source for introducing the content to theoptical assembly, an electrically adjustable liquid lens integrated withthe optical assembly that adjusts a focus of the displayed content forthe user, and at least one sensor mounted on the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece, wherein an output from the at least one sensor isused to stabilize the displayed content of the optical assembly of theinteractive head mounted eyepiece using at least one of opticalstabilization and image stabilization.

One embodiment is a method for stabilizing images. The method includessteps of providing an interactive head-mounted eyepiece including acamera and an optical assembly through which a user views a surroundingenvironment and displayed content, and imaging the surroundingenvironment with the camera to capture an image of an object in thesurrounding environment. The method also includes steps of displaying,through the optical assembly, the content at a fixed location withrespect to the user's view of the imaged object, sensing vibration andmovement of the eyepiece, and stabilizing the displayed content withrespect to the user's view of the surrounding environment via at leastone digital technique.

Another embodiment is a method for stabilizing images. The methodincludes steps of providing an interactive head-mounted eyepieceincluding a camera and an optical assembly through which a user views asurrounding environment and displayed content, the assembly alsocomprising a processor for handling content for display to the user andan integrated projector for projecting the content to the opticalassembly, and imaging the surrounding environment with the camera tocapture an image of an object in the surrounding environment. The methodalso includes steps of displaying, through the optical assembly, thecontent at a fixed location with respect to the user's view of theimaged object, sensing vibration and movement of the eyepiece, andstabilizing the displayed content with respect to the user's view of thesurrounding environment via at least one digital technique.

One embodiment is a method for stabilizing images. The method includessteps of providing an interactive, head-mounted eyepiece worn by a user,wherein the eyepiece includes an optical assembly through which the userviews a surrounding environment and displayed content, wherein theoptical assembly comprises a corrective element that corrects the user'sview of the surrounding environment, an integrated processor forhandling content for display to the user and an integrated image sourcefor introducing the content to the optical assembly, and imaging thesurrounding environment with a camera to capture an image of an objectin the surrounding environment. The method also includes steps ofdisplaying, through the optical assembly, the content at a fixedlocation with respect to the user's view of the imaged object, sensingvibration and movement of the eyepiece, sending signals indicative ofthe vibration and movement of the eyepiece to the integrated processorof the interactive head-mounted device, and stabilizing the displayedcontent with respect to the user's view of the environment via at leastone digital technique.

Another embodiment is an interactive head-mounted eyepiece. Theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece includes an eyepiece for wearing by auser, an optical assembly mounted on the eyepiece through which the userviews a surrounding environment and a displayed content, and acorrective element mounted on the eyepiece that corrects the user's viewof the surrounding environment. The interactive, head-mounted eyepiecealso includes an integrated processor for handling content for displayto the user, an integrated image source for introducing the content tothe optical assembly, and at least one sensor mounted on the camera orthe eyepiece, wherein an output from the at least one sensor is used tostabilize the displayed content of the optical assembly of theinteractive head mounted eyepiece using at least one digital technique.

One embodiment is an interactive head-mounted eyepiece. The interactivehead-mounted eyepiece includes an interactive head-mounted eyepiece forwearing by a user, an optical assembly mounted on the eyepiece throughwhich the user views a surrounding environment and a displayed content,and an integrated processor of the eyepiece for handling content fordisplay to the user. The interactive head-mounted eyepiece also includesan integrated image source of the eyepiece for introducing the contentto the optical assembly, and at least one sensor mounted on theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece, wherein an output from the at leastone sensor is used to stabilize the displayed content of the opticalassembly of the interactive head mounted eyepiece using at least one ofoptical stabilization and image stabilization.

Another embodiment is an interactive head-mounted eyepiece. Theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece includes an eyepiece for wearing by auser, an optical assembly mounted on the eyepiece through which the userviews a surrounding environment and a displayed content and anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user. Theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece also includes an integrated imagesource for introducing the content to the optical assembly, anelectro-optic lens in series between the integrated image source and theoptical assembly for stabilizing content for display to the user, and atleast one sensor mounted on the eyepiece or a mount for the eyepiece,wherein an output from the at least one sensor is used to stabilize theelectro-optic lens of the interactive head mounted eyepiece.

Aspects disclosed herein include an interactive head-mounted eyepieceworn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an optical assemblythrough which the user views a surrounding environment and displayedcontent, wherein the optical assembly comprises a corrective elementthat corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly.

The eyepiece may further include a control device worn on a hand of theuser, including at least one control component actuated by a digit of ahand of the user, and providing a control command from the actuation ofthe at least one control component to the processor as a commandinstruction. The command instruction may be directed to the manipulationof content for display to the user.

The eyepiece may further include a hand motion sensing device worn on ahand of the user, and providing control commands from the motion sensingdevice to the processor as command instructions.

The eyepiece may further include a bi-directional optical assemblythrough which the user views a surrounding environment simultaneouslywith displayed content as transmitted through the optical assembly froman integrated image source and a processor for handling the content fordisplay to the user and sensor information from the sensor, wherein theprocessor correlates the displayed content and the information from thesensor to indicate the eye's line-of-sight relative to the projectedimage, and uses the line-of-sight information relative to the projectedimage, plus a user command indication, to invoke an action.

In the eyepiece, line of sight information for the user's eye iscommunicated to the processor as command instructions.

The eyepiece may further include a hand motion sensing device fortracking hand gestures within a field of view of the eyepiece to providecontrol instructions to the eyepiece.

In an aspect, a method of social networking includes contacting a socialnetworking website using the eyepiece, requesting information aboutmembers of the social networking website using the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece, and searching for nearby members of the socialnetworking website using the interactive head-mounted eyepiece.

In an aspect, a method of social networking includes contacting a socialnetworking website using the eyepiece, requesting information aboutother members of the social networking website using the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece, sending a signal indicating a location of theuser of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, and allowing access toinformation about the user of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece.

In an aspect, a method of social networking includes contacting a socialnetworking website using the eyepiece, requesting information aboutmembers of the social networking website using the interactive,head-mounted eyepiece, sending a signal indicating a location and atleast one preference of the user of the interactive, head-mountedeyepiece, allowing access to information on the social networking siteabout preferences of the user of the interactive, head-mounted eyepiece,and searching for nearby members of the social networking website usingthe interactive head-mounted eyepiece.

In an aspect, a method of gaming includes contacting an online gamingsite using the eyepiece, initiating or joining a game of the onlinegaming site using the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, viewing thegame through the optical assembly of the interactive head-mountedeyepiece, and playing the game by manipulating at least one body-mountedcontrol device using the interactive, head mounted eyepiece.

In an aspect, a method of gaming includes contacting an online gamingsite using the eyepiece, initiating or joining a game of the onlinegaming site with a plurality of members of the online gaming site, eachmember using an interactive head-mounted eyepiece system, viewing gamecontent with the optical assembly, and playing the game by manipulatingat least one sensor for detecting motion.

In an aspect, a method of gaming includes contacting an online gamingsite using the eyepiece, contacting at least one additional player for agame of the online gaming site using the interactive head-mountedeyepiece, initiating a game of the online gaming site using theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece, viewing the game of the online gamingsite with the optical assembly of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece,and playing the game by touchlessly manipulating at least one controlusing the interactive head-mounted eyepiece.

In an aspect, a method of using augmented vision includes providing aninteractive head-mounted eyepiece including an optical assembly throughwhich a user views a surrounding environment and displayed content,scanning the surrounding environment with a black silicon short waveinfrared (SWIR) image sensor, controlling the SWIR image sensor throughmovements, gestures or commands of the user, sending at least one visualimage from the sensor to a processor of the interactive head-mountedeyepiece, and viewing the at least one visual image using the opticalassembly, wherein the black silicon short wave infrared (SWIR) sensorprovides a night vision capability.

In an aspect, a method of using augmented vision includes providing aninteractive head-mounted eyepiece including a camera and an opticalassembly through which a user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, viewing the surrounding environment with a camera anda black silicon short wave infra red (SWIR) image sensor, controllingthe camera through movements, gestures or commands of the user, sendinginformation from the camera to a processor of the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece, and viewing visual images using the opticalassembly, wherein the black silicon short wave infrared (SWIR) sensorprovides a night vision capability.

In an aspect, a method of using augmented vision includes providing aninteractive head-mounted eyepiece including an optical assembly throughwhich a user views a surrounding environment and displayed content,wherein the optical assembly comprises a corrective element thatcorrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, an integratedprocessor for handling content for display to the user, and anintegrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly, viewing the surrounding environment with a black silicon shortwave infrared (SWIR) image sensor, controlling scanning of the imagesensor through movements and gestures of the user, sending informationfrom the image sensor to a processor of the interactive head-mountedeyepiece, and viewing visual images using the optical assembly, whereinthe black silicon short wave infrared (SWIR) sensor provides a nightvision capability.

In an aspect, a method of receiving information includes contacting anaccessible database using an interactive head-mounted eyepiece includingan optical assembly through which a user views a surrounding environmentand displayed content, requesting information from the accessibledatabase using the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, and viewinginformation from the accessible database using the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece, wherein the steps of requesting and viewinginformation are accomplished without contacting controls of theinteractive head-mounted device by the user.

In an aspect, a method of receiving information includes contacting anaccessible database using the eyepiece, requesting information from theaccessible database using the interactive head-mounted eyepiece,displaying the information using the optical facility, and manipulatingthe information using the processor, wherein the steps of requesting,displaying and manipulating are accomplished without touching controlsof the interactive head-mounted eyepiece.

In an aspect, a method of receiving information includes contacting anaccessible database using the eyepiece, requesting information from theaccessible website using the interactive, head-mounted eyepiece withouttouching of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece by digits of the user,allowing access to information on the accessible website withouttouching controls of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, displayingthe information using the optical facility, and manipulating theinformation using the processor without touching controls of theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece.

In an aspect, a method of social networking includes providing theeyepiece, scanning facial features of a nearby person with an opticalsensor of the head-mounted eyepiece, extracting a facial profile of theperson, contacting a social networking website using a communicationsfacility of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, and searching adatabase of the social networking site for a match for the facialprofile.

In an aspect, a method of social networking includes providing theeyepiece, scanning facial features of a nearby person with an opticalsensor of the head-mounted eyepiece, extracting a facial profile of theperson, contacting a database using a communications facility of thehead-mounted eyepiece, and searching the database for a person matchingthe facial profile.

In an aspect, a method of social networking includes contacting a socialnetworking website using the eyepiece, requesting information aboutnearby members of the social networking website using the interactive,head-mounted eyepiece, scanning facial features of a nearby personidentified as a member of the social networking site with an opticalsensor of the head-mounted eyepiece, extracting a facial profile of theperson, and searching at least one additional database for informationconcerning the person.

In one aspect, a method of using augmented vision includes providing theeyepiece, controlling the camera through movements, gestures or commandsof the user, sending information from the camera to a processor of theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece, and viewing visual images using theoptical assembly, wherein visual images from the camera and opticalassembly are an improvement for the user in at least one of focus,brightness, clarity and magnification.

In another aspect, a method of using augmented vision, includesproviding the eyepiece, controlling the camera through movements of theuser without touching controls of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece,sending information from the camera to a processor of the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece, and viewing visual images using the opticalassembly of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, wherein visual imagesfrom the camera and optical assembly are an improvement for the user inat least one of focus, brightness, clarity and magnification.

In one aspect, a method of using augmented vision includes providing theeyepiece, controlling the camera through movements of the user of theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece, sending information from the camerato the integrated processor of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece,applying an image enhancement technique using computer software and theintegrated processor of the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, andviewing visual images using the optical assembly of the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece, wherein visual images from the camera and opticalassembly are an improvement for the user in at least one of focus,brightness, clarity and magnification.

In one aspect, a method for facial recognition includes capturing animage of a subject with the eyepiece, converting the image to biometricdata, comparing the biometric data to a database of previously collectedbiometric data, identifying biometric data matching previously collectedbiometric data, and reporting the identified matching biometric data asdisplayed content.

In another aspect, a system includes the eyepiece, a face detectionfacility in association with the integrated processor facility, whereinthe face detection facility captures images of faces in the surroundingenvironment, compares the captured images to stored images in a facerecognition database, and provides a visual indication to indicate amatch, where the visual indication corresponds to the current positionof the imaged face in the surrounding environment as part of theprojected content, and an integrated vibratory actuator in the eyepiece,wherein the vibratory actuator provides a vibration output to alert theuser to the match.

In one aspect, a method for augmenting vision includes collectingphotons with a short wave infrared sensor mounted on the eyepiece,converting the collected photons in the short wave infrared spectrum toelectrical signals, relaying the electrical signals to the eyepiece fordisplay, collecting biometric data using the sensor, collecting audiodata using an audio sensor, and transferring the collected biometricdata and audio data to a database.

In another aspect, a method for object recognition includes capturing animage of an object with the eyepiece, analyzing the object to determineif the object has been previously captured, increasing the resolution ofthe areas of the captured image that have not been previously capturedand analyzed, and decreasing the resolution of the areas of the capturedimage that have been previously captured and analyzed.

These and other systems, methods, objects, features, and advantages ofthe present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following detailed description of the embodiments and the drawings.

All documents mentioned herein are hereby incorporated in their entiretyby reference. References to items in the singular should be understoodto include items in the plural, and vice versa, unless explicitly statedotherwise or clear from the text. Grammatical conjunctions are intendedto express any and all disjunctive and conjunctive combinations ofconjoined clauses, sentences, words, and the like, unless otherwisestated or clear from the context.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The present disclosure and the following detailed description of certainembodiments thereof may be understood by reference to the followingfigures:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative embodiment of the optical arrangement.

FIG. 2 depicts an RGB LED projector.

FIG. 3 depicts the projector in use.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of the waveguide and correction lensdisposed in a frame.

FIG. 5 depicts a design for a waveguide eyepiece.

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of the eyepiece with a see-through lens.

FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment of the eyepiece with a see-through lens.

FIGS. 8 a and 8 b depict an embodiment of snap-fit optics.

FIG. 9 depicts an electrochromic layer of the eyepiece.

FIG. 10 depicts the advantages of the eyepiece in real-time imageenhancement, keystone correction, and virtual perspective correction.

FIG. 11 depicts a plot of responsivity versus wavelength for threesubstrates.

FIG. 12 illustrates the performance of the black silicon sensor.

FIG. 13 a depicts an incumbent night vision system, FIG. 13 b depictsthe night vision system of the present disclosure, and FIG. 13 cillustrates the difference in responsivity between the two.

FIG. 14 depicts a tactile interface of the eyepiece.

FIG. 14A depicts motions in an embodiment of the eyepiece featuring nodcontrol.

FIG. 15 depicts a ring that controls the eyepiece.

FIG. 15A depicts hand mounted sensors in an embodiment of a virtualmouse.

FIG. 15B depicts a facial actuation sensor as mounted on the eyepiece.

FIG. 15C depicts a hand pointing control of the eyepiece.

FIG. 15D depicts a hand pointing control of the eyepiece.

FIG. 15E depicts an example of eye tracking control.

FIG. 15F depicts a hand positioning control of the eyepiece.

FIG. 16 depicts a location-based application mode of the eyepiece.

FIG. 17 shows the difference in image quality between A) a flexibleplatform of uncooled CMOS image sensors capable of VIS/NIR/SWIR imagingand B) an image intensified night vision system

FIG. 18 depicts an augmented reality-enabled custom billboard.

FIG. 19 depicts an augmented reality-enabled custom advertisement.

FIG. 20 an augmented reality-enabled custom artwork.

FIG. 20A depicts a method for posting messages to be transmitted when aviewer reaches a certain location.

FIG. 21 depicts an alternative arrangement of the eyepiece optics andelectronics.

FIG. 22 depicts an alternative arrangement of the eyepiece optics andelectronics.

FIG. 23 depicts an alternative arrangement of the eyepiece optics andelectronics.

FIG. 24 depicts a lock position of a virtual keyboard.

FIG. 25 depicts a detailed view of the projector.

FIG. 26 depicts a detailed view of the RGB LED module.

FIG. 27 depicts a gaming network.

FIG. 28 depicts a method for gaming using augmented reality glasses.

FIG. 29 depicts an exemplary electronic circuit diagram for an augmentedreality eyepiece.

FIG. 30 depicts partial image removal by the eyepiece.

FIG. 31 depicts a flowchart for a method of identifying a person basedon speech of the person as captured by microphones of the augmentedreality device.

FIG. 32 depicts a typical camera for use in video calling orconferencing.

FIG. 33 illustrates an embodiment of a block diagram of a video callingcamera.

FIG. 34 depicts embodiments of the eyepiece for optical or digitalstabilization.

FIG. 35 depicts an embodiment of a classic cassegrain configuration.

FIG. 36 depicts the configuration of the microcassegrain telescopingfolded optic camera.

FIG. 37 depicts a swipe process with a virtual keyboard.

FIG. 38 depicts a target marker process for a virtual keyboard.

FIG. 39 illustrates glasses for biometric data capture according to anembodiment.

FIG. 40 illustrates iris recognition using the biometric data captureglasses according to an embodiment.

FIG. 41 depicts face and iris recognition according to an embodiment.

FIG. 42 illustrates use of dual omni-microphones according to anembodiment.

FIG. 43 depicts the directionality improvements with multiplemicrophones.

FIG. 44 shows the use of adaptive arrays to steer the audio capturefacility according to an embodiment.

FIG. 45 depicts a block diagram of a system including the eyepiece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to eyepiece electro-optics. The eyepiecemay include projection optics suitable to project an image onto asee-through or translucent lens, enabling the wearer of the eyepiece toview the surrounding environment as well as the displayed image. Theprojection optics, also known as a projector, may include an RGB LEDmodule that uses field sequential color. With field sequential color, asingle full color image may be broken down into color fields based onthe primary colors of red, green, and blue and imaged by an LCoS (liquidcrystal on silicon) optical display 210 individually. As each colorfield is imaged by the optical display 210, the corresponding LED coloris turned on. When these color fields are displayed in rapid sequence, afull color image may be seen. With field sequential color illumination,the resulting projected image in the eyepiece can be adjusted for anychromatic aberrations by shifting the red image relative to the blueand/or green image and so on. The image may thereafter be reflected intoa two surface freeform waveguide where the image light engages in totalinternal reflections (TIR) until reaching the active viewing area of thelens where the user sees the image. A processor, which may include amemory and an operating system, may control the LED light source and theoptical display. The projector may also include or be optically coupledto a display coupling lens, a condenser lens, a polarizing beamsplitter, and a field lens.

Referring to FIG. 1, an illustrative embodiment of the augmented realityeyepiece 100 may be depicted. It will be understood that embodiments ofthe eyepiece 100 may not include all of the elements depicted in FIG. 1while other embodiments may include additional or different elements. Inembodiments, the optical elements may be embedded in the arm portions122 of the frame 102 of the eyepiece. Images may be projected with aprojector 108 onto at least one lens 104 disposed in an opening of theframe 102. One or more projectors 108, such as a nanoprojector,picoprojector, microprojector, femtoprojector, LASER-based projector,holographic projector, and the like may be disposed in an arm portion ofthe eyepiece frame 102. In embodiments, both lenses 104 are see-throughor translucent while in other embodiments only one lens 104 istranslucent while the other is opaque or missing. In embodiments, morethan one projector 108 may be included in the eyepiece 100.

In embodiments such as the one depicted in FIG. 1, the eyepiece 100 mayalso include at least one articulating ear bud 120, a radio transceiver118 and a heat sink 114 to absorb heat from the LED light engine, tokeep it cool and to allow it to operate at full brightness. There isalso a TI OMAP4 (open multimedia applications processor) 112, and a flexcable with RF antenna 110, all of which will be further describedherein.

In an embodiment and referring to FIG. 2, the projector 200 may be anRGB projector. The projector 200 may include a housing 202, a heatsink204 and an RGB LED engine or module 206. The RGB LED engine 206 mayinclude LEDs, dichroics, concentrators, and the like. A digital signalprocessor (DSP) (not shown) may convert the images or video stream intocontrol signals, such as voltage drops/current modifications, pulsewidth modulation (PWM) signals, and the like to control the intensity,duration, and mixing of the LED light. For example, the DSP may controlthe duty cycle of each PWM signal to control the average current flowingthrough each LED generating a plurality of colors. A still imageco-processor of the eyepiece may employ noise-filtering, image/videostabilization, and face detection, and be able to make imageenhancements. An audio back-end processor of the eyepiece may employbuffering, SRC, equalization and the like.

The projector 200 may include an optical display 210, such as an LCoSdisplay, and a number of components as shown. In embodiments, theprojector 200 may be designed with a single panel LCoS display 210;however, a three panel display may be possible as well. In the singlepanel embodiment, the display 210 is illuminated with red, blue, andgreen sequentially (aka field sequential color). In other embodiments,the projector 200 may make use of alternative optical displaytechnologies, such as a back-lit liquid crystal display (LCD), afront-lit LCD, a transflective LCD, an organic light emitting diode(OLED), a field emission display (FED), a ferroelectric LCoS (FLCOS) andthe like.

The eyepiece may be powered by any power supply, such as battery power,solar power, line power, and the like. The power may be integrated inthe frame 102 or disposed external to the eyepiece 100 and in electricalcommunication with the powered elements of the eyepiece 100. Forexample, a solar energy collector may be placed on the frame 102, on abelt clip, and the like. Battery charging may occur using a wallcharger, car charger, on a belt clip, in an eyepiece case, and the like.

The projector 200 may include the LED light engine 206, which may bemounted on heat sink 204 and holder 208, for ensuring vibration-freemounting for the LED light engine, hollow tapered light tunnel 220,diffuser 212 and condenser lens 214. Hollow tunnel 220 helps tohomogenize the rapidly-varying light from the RGB LED light engine. Inone embodiment, hollow light tunnel 220 includes a silvered coating. Thediffuser lens 212 further homogenizes and mixes the light before thelight is led to the condenser lens 214. The light leaves the condenserlens 214 and then enters the polarizing beam splitter (PBS) 218. In thePBS, the LED light is propagated and split into polarization componentsbefore it is refracted to a field lens 216 and the LCoS display 210. TheLCoS display provides the image for the microprojector. The image isthen reflected from the LCoS display and back through the polarizingbeam splitter, and then reflected ninety degrees. Thus, the image leavesmicroprojector 200 in about the middle of the microprojector. The lightthen is led to the coupling lens 504, described below.

In an embodiment, the digital signal processor (DSP) may be programmedand/or configured to receive video feed information and configure thevideo feed to drive whatever type of image source is being used with theoptical display 210. The DSP may include a bus or other communicationmechanism for communicating information, and an internal processorcoupled with the bus for processing the information. The DSP may includea memory, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storagedevice (e.g., dynamic RAM (DRAM), static RAM (SRAM), and synchronousDRAM (SDRAM)), coupled to the bus for storing information andinstructions to be executed. The DSP can include a non-volatile memorysuch as for example a read only memory (ROM) or other static storagedevice (e.g., programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), andelectrically erasable PROM (EEPROM)) coupled to the bus for storingstatic information and instructions for the internal processor. The DSPmay include special purpose logic devices (e.g., application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs)) or configurable logic devices (e.g., simpleprogrammable logic devices (SPLDs), complex programmable logic devices(CPLDs), and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)).

The DSP may include at least one computer readable medium or memory forholding instructions programmed and for containing data structures,tables, records, or other data necessary to drive the optical display.Examples of computer readable media suitable for applications of thepresent disclosure may be compact discs, hard disks, floppy disks, tape,magneto-optical disks, PROMs (EPROM, EEPROM, flash EPROM), DRAM, SRAM,SDRAM, or any other magnetic medium, compact discs (e.g., CD-ROM), orany other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, or other physicalmedium with patterns of holes, a carrier wave (described below), or anyother medium from which a computer can read. Various forms of computerreadable media may be involved in carrying out one or more sequences ofone or more instructions to the optical display 210 for execution. TheDSP may also include a communication interface to provide a datacommunication coupling to a network link that can be connected to, forexample, a local area network (LAN), or to another communicationsnetwork such as the Internet. Wireless links may also be implemented. Inany such implementation, an appropriate communication interface can sendand receive electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carrydigital data streams representing various types of information (such asthe video information) to the optical display 210.

In another embodiment, FIGS. 21 and 22 depict an alternate arrangementof the waveguide and projector in exploded view. In this arrangement,the projector is placed just behind the hinge of the arm of the eyepieceand it is vertically oriented such that the initial travel of the RGBLED signals is vertical until the direction is changed by a reflectingprism in order to enter the waveguide lens. The vertically arrangedprojection engine may have a PBS 218 at the center, the RGB LED array atthe bottom, a hollow, tapered tunnel with thin film diffuser to mix thecolors for collection in an optic, and a condenser lens. The PBS mayhave a pre-polarizer on an entrance face. The pre-polarizer may bealigned to transmit light of a certain polarization, such as p-polarizedlight and reflect (or absorb) light of the opposite polarization, suchas s-polarized light. The polarized light may then pass through the PBSto the field lens 216. The purpose of the field lens 216 may be tocreate near telecentric illumination of the LCoS panel. The LCoS displaymay be truly reflective, reflecting colors sequentially with correcttiming so the image is displayed properly. Light may reflect from theLCoS panel and, for bright areas of the image, may be rotated tos-polarization. The light then may refract through the field lens 216and may be reflected at the internal interface of the PBS and exit theprojector, heading toward the coupling lens. The hollow, tapered tunnel220 may replace the homogenizing lenslet from other embodiments. Byvertically orienting the projector and placing the PBS in the center,space is saved and the projector is able to be placed in a hinge spacewith little moment arm hanging from the waveguide.

Light entering the waveguide may be polarized, such as s-polarized. Whenthis light reflects from the user's eye, it may appear as a “night glow”from the user's eye. This night glow may be eliminated by attachinglenses to the waveguide or frame, such as the snap-fit optics describedherein, that are oppositely polarized from the light reflecting from theuser's eye, such as p-polarized in this case.

In FIGS. 21-22, augmented reality eyepiece 2100 includes a frame 2102and left and right earpieces or temple pieces 2104. Protective lenses2106, such as ballistic lenses, are mounted on the front of the frame2102 to protect the eyes of the user or to correct the user's view ofthe surrounding environment if they are prescription lenses. The frontportion of the frame may also be used to mount a camera or image sensor2130 and one or more microphones 2132. Not visible in FIG. 21,waveguides are mounted in the frame 2102 behind the protective lenses2106, one on each side of the center or adjustable nose bridge 2138. Thefront cover 2106 may be interchangeable, so that tints or prescriptionsmay be changed readily for the particular user of the augmented realitydevice. In one embodiment, each lens is quickly interchangeable,allowing for a different prescription for each eye. In one embodiment,the lenses are quickly interchangeable with snap-fits as discussedelsewhere herein. Certain embodiments may only have a projector andwaveguide combination on one side of the eyepiece while the other sidemay be filled with a regular lens, reading lens, prescription lens, orthe like. The left and right ear pieces 2104 each vertically mount aprojector or microprojector 2114 or other image source atop aspring-loaded hinge 2128 for easier assembly and vibration/shockprotection. Each temple piece also includes a temple housing 2116 formounting associated electronics for the eyepiece, and each may alsoinclude an elastomeric head grip pad 2120, for better retention on theuser. Each temple piece also includes extending, wrap-around ear buds2112 and an orifice 2126 for mounting a headstrap 2142.

As noted, the temple housing 2116 contains electronics associated withthe augmented reality eyepiece. The electronics may include severalcircuit boards, as shown, such as for the microprocessor and radios2122, the communications system on a chip (SOC) 2124, and the openmultimedia applications processor (OMAP) processor board 2140. Thecommunications system on a chip (SOC) may include electronics for one ormore communications capabilities, including a wide local area network(WLAN), BlueTooth™ communications, frequency modulation (FM) radio, aglobal positioning system (GPS), a 3-axis accelerometer, one or moregyroscopes, and the like. In addition, the right temple piece mayinclude an optical trackpad (not shown) on the outside of the templepiece for user control of the eyepiece and one or more applications.

The frame 2102 is in a general shape of a pair of wrap-aroundsunglasses. The sides of the glasses include shape-memory alloy straps2134, such as nitinol straps. The nitinol or other shape-memory alloystraps are fitted for the user of the augmented reality eyepiece. Thestraps are tailored so that they assume their trained or preferred shapewhen worn by the user and warmed to near body temperature.

Other features of this embodiment include detachable, noise-cancellingearbuds. As seen in the figure, the earbuds are intended for connectionto the controls of the augmented reality eyepiece for delivering soundsto ears of the user. The sounds may include inputs from the wirelessinternet or telecommunications capability of the augmented realityeyepiece. The earbuds also include soft, deformable plastic or foamportions, so that the inner ears of the user are protected in a mannersimilar to earplugs. In one embodiment, the earbuds limit inputs to theuser's ears to about 85 dB. This allows for normal hearing by thewearer, while providing protection from gunshot noise or other explosivenoises. In one embodiment, the controls of the noise-cancelling earbudshave an automatic gain control for very fast adjustment of thecancelling feature in protecting the wearer's ears.

FIG. 23 depicts a layout of the vertically arranged projector 2114,where the illumination light passes from bottom to top through one sideof the PBS on its way to the display and imager board, which may besilicon backed, and being refracted as image light where it hits theinternal interfaces of the triangular prisms which constitute thepolarizing beam splitter, and is reflected out of the projector and intothe waveguide lens. In this example, the dimensions of the projector areshown with the width of the imager board being 11 mm, the distance fromthe end of the imager board to the image centerline being 10.6 mm, andthe distance from the image centerline to the end of the LED board beingabout 11.8 mm.

A detailed and assembled view of the components of the projectordiscussed above may be seen in FIG. 25. This view depicts how compactthe micro-projector 2500 is when assembled, for example, near a hinge ofthe augmented reality eyepiece. Microprojector 2500 includes a housingand a holder 208 for mounting certain of the optical pieces. As eachcolor field is imaged by the optical display 210, the corresponding LEDcolor is turned on. The RGB LED light engine 202 is depicted near thebottom, mounted on heat sink 204. The holder 208 is mounted atop the LEDlight engine 202, the holder mounting light tunnel 220, diffuser lens212 (to eliminate hotspots) and condenser lens 214. Light passes fromthe condenser lens into the polarizing beam splitter 218 and then to thefield lens 216. The light then refracts onto the LCoS (liquid crystal onsilicon) chip 210, where an image is formed. The light for the imagethen reflects back through the field lens 216 and is polarized andreflected 90° through the polarizing beam splitter 218. The light thenleaves the microprojector for transmission to the optical display of theglasses.

FIG. 26 depicts an exemplary RGB LED module. In this example, the LED isa 2×2 array with 1 red, 1 blue and 2 green die and the LED array has 4cathodes and a common anode. The maximum current may be 0.5 A per dieand the maximum voltage (≈4V) may be needed for the green and blue die.

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a horizontally disposed projector inuse. The projector 300 may be disposed in an arm portion of an eyepieceframe. The LED module 302, under processor control 304, may emit asingle color at a time in rapid sequence. The emitted light may traveldown a light tunnel 308 and through at least one homogenizing lenslet310 before encountering a polarizing beam splitter 312 and beingdeflected towards an LCoS display 314 where a full color image isdisplayed. The LCoS display may have a resolution of 1280×720p. Theimage may then be reflected back up through the polarizing beamsplitter, reflected off a fold mirror 318 and travel through acollimator on its way out of the projector and into a waveguide. Theprojector may include a diffractive element to eliminate aberrations.

In an embodiment, the interactive head-mounted eyepiece includes anoptical assembly through which a user views a surrounding environmentand displayed content, wherein the optical assembly includes acorrective element that corrects the user's view of the surroundingenvironment, a freeform optical waveguide enabling internal reflections,and a coupling lens positioned to direct an image from an opticaldisplay, such as an LCoS display, to the optical waveguide. The eyepiecefurther includes an integrated processor for handling content fordisplay to the user and an integrated image source, such as a projectorfacility, for introducing the content to the optical assembly. Inembodiments where the image source is a projector, the projectorfacility includes a light source and the optical display. Light from thelight source, such as an RGB module, is emitted under control of theprocessor and traverses a polarizing beam splitter where it is polarizedbefore being reflected off the optical display, such as the LCoS displayor LCD display in certain other embodiments, and into the opticalwaveguide. A surface of the polarizing beam splitter may reflect thecolor image from the optical display into the optical waveguide. The RGBLED module may emit light sequentially to form a color image that isreflected off the optical display. The corrective element may be asee-through correction lens that is attached to the optical waveguide toenable proper viewing of the surrounding environment whether the imagesource is on or off. This corrective element may be a wedge-shapedcorrection lens, and may be prescription, tinted, coated, or the like.The freeform optical waveguide, which may be described by a higher orderpolynomial, may include dual freeform surfaces that enable a curvatureand a sizing of the waveguide. The curvature and the sizing of thewaveguide enable its placement in a frame of the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece. This frame may be sized to fit a user's head in asimilar fashion to sunglasses or eyeglasses. Other elements of theoptical assembly of the eyepiece include a homogenizer through whichlight from the light source is propagated to ensure that the beam oflight is uniform and a collimator that improves the resolution of thelight entering the optical waveguide.

Referring to FIG. 4, the image light, which may be polarized andcollimated, may optionally traverse a display coupling lens 412, whichmay or may not be the collimator itself or in addition to thecollimator, and enter the waveguide 414. In embodiments, the waveguide414 may be a freeform waveguide, where the surfaces of the waveguide aredescribed by a polynomial equation. The waveguide may be rectilinear.The waveguide 414 may include two reflective surfaces. When the imagelight enters the waveguide 414, it may strike a first surface with anangle of incidence greater than the critical angle above which totalinternal reflection (TIR) occurs. The image light may engage in TIRbounces between the first surface a second facing surface, eventuallyreaching the active viewing area 418 of the composite lens. In anembodiment, light may engage in at least three TIR bounces. Since thewaveguide 414 tapers to enable the TIR bounces to eventually exit thewaveguide, the thickness of the composite lens 420 may not be uniform.Distortion through the viewing area of the composite lens 420 may beminimized by disposing a wedge-shaped correction lens 410 along a lengthof the freeform waveguide 414 in order to provide a uniform thicknessacross at least the viewing area of the lens 420. The correction lens410 may be a prescription lens, a tinted lens, a polarized lens, and thelike.

In some embodiments, while the optical waveguide may have a firstsurface and a second surface enabling total internal reflections of thelight entering the waveguide, the light may not actually enter thewaveguide at an internal angle of incidence that would result in totalinternal reflection. The eyepiece may include a mirrored surface on thefirst surface of the optical waveguide to reflect the displayed contenttowards the second surface of the optical waveguide. Thus, the mirroredsurface enables a total reflection of the light entering the opticalwaveguide or a reflection of at least a portion of the light enteringthe optical waveguide. In embodiments, the surface may be 100% mirroredor mirrored to a lower percentage. In some embodiments, in place of amirrored surface, an air gap between the waveguide and the correctiveelement may cause a reflection of the light that enters the waveguide atan angle of incidence that would not result in TIR.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece includes an integrated image source, suchas a projector, that introduces content for display to the opticalassembly from a side of the optical waveguide adjacent to an arm of theeyepiece. As opposed to prior art optical assemblies where imageinjection occurs from a top side of the optical waveguide, the presentdisclosure provides image injection to the waveguide from a side of thewaveguide. The displayed content aspect ratio is between approximatelysquare to approximately rectangular with the long axis approximatelyhorizontal. In embodiments, the displayed content aspect ratio is 16:9.In embodiments, achieving a rectangular aspect ratio for the displayedcontent where the long axis is approximately horizontal may be done viarotation of the injected image. In other embodiments, it may be done bystretching the image until it reaches the desired aspect ratio.

FIG. 5 depicts a design for a waveguide eyepiece showing sampledimensions. For example, in this design, the width of the coupling lens504 may be 13˜15 mm, with the optical display 502 optically coupled inseries. These elements may be disposed in an arm of an eyepiece. Imagelight from the optical display 502 is projected through the couplinglens 504 into the freeform waveguide 508. The thickness of the compositelens, including waveguide 508 and correction lens 510, may be 9 mm. Inthis design, the waveguide 502 enables an exit pupil diameter of 8 mmwith an eye clearance of 20 mm. The resultant see-through view 512 maybe about 60-70 mm. The distance from the pupil to the image light pathas it enters the waveguide 502 (dimension a) may be about 50-60 mm,which can accommodate a large % of human head breadths. In anembodiment, the field of view may be larger than the pupil. Inembodiments, the field of view may not fill the lens. It should beunderstood that these dimensions are for a particular illustrativeembodiment and should not be construed as limiting. In an embodiment,the waveguide, snap-on optics, and/or the corrective lens may compriseoptical plastic. In other embodiments, the waveguide snap-on optics,and/or the corrective lens may comprise glass, marginal glass, bulkglass, metallic glass, palladium-enriched glass, or other suitableglass. In embodiments, the waveguide 508 and correction lens 510 may bemade from different materials selected to result in little to nochromatic aberrations. The materials may include a diffraction grating,a holographic grating, and the like.

In embodiments such as that shown in FIG. 1, the projected image may bea stereo image when two projectors 108 are used for the left and rightimages. To enable stereo viewing, the projectors 108 may be disposed atan adjustable distance from one another that enables adjustment based onthe interpupillary distance for individual wearers of the eyepiece.

Having described certain embodiments of the eyepiece, we turn todescribing various additional features, applications for use 4512,control technologies and external control devices 4508, associatedexternal devices 4504, software, networking capabilities, integratedsensors 4502, external processing facilities 4510, associated thirdparty facilities 4514, and the like. External devices 4504 for use withthe eyepiece include devices useful in entertainment, navigation,computing, communication, and the like. External control devices 4508include a ring/hand or other haptic controller, external device enablinggesture control (e.g. non-integral camera, device with embeddedaccelerometer), I/F to external device, and the like. Externalprocessing facilities 4510 include local processing facilities, remoteprocessing facilities, I/F to external applications, and the like.Applications for use 4512 include those for commercial, consumer,military, education, government, augmented reality, advertising, media,and the like. Various third party facilities 4514 may be accessed by theeyepiece or work in conjunction with the eyepiece. Eyepieces 100 mayinteract with other eyepieces 100 through wireless communication,near-field communication, a wired communication, and the like.

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of the eyepiece 600 with a see-through ortranslucent lens 602. A projected image 618 can be seen on the lens 602.In this embodiment, the image 618 that is being projected onto the lens602 happens to be an augmented reality version of the scene that thewearer is seeing, wherein tagged points of interest (POI) in the fieldof view are displayed to the wearer. The augmented reality version maybe enabled by a forward facing camera embedded in the eyepiece (notshown in FIG. 6) that images what the wearer is looking and identifiesthe location/POI. In one embodiment, the output of the camera or opticaltransmitter may be sent to the eyepiece controller or memory forstorage, for transmission to a remote location, or for viewing by theperson wearing the eyepiece or glasses. For example, the video outputmay be streamed to the virtual screen seen by the user. The video outputmay thus be used to help determine the user's location, or may be sentremotely to others to assist in helping to locate the location of thewearer, or for any other purpose. Other detection technologies, such asGPS, RFID, manual input, and the like, may be used to determine awearer's location. Using location or identification data, a database maybe accessed by the eyepiece for information that may be overlaid,projected or otherwise displayed with what is being seen. Augmentedreality applications and technology will be further described herein.

In FIG. 7, an embodiment of the eyepiece 700 is depicted with atranslucent lens 702 on which is being displayed streaming media (ane-mail application) and an incoming call notification. In thisembodiment, the media obscures a portion of the viewing area, however,it should be understood that the displayed image may be positionedanywhere in the field of view. In embodiments, the media may be made tobe more or less transparent.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece may receive input from any externalsource, such as an external converter box. The source may be depicted inthe lens of eyepiece. In an embodiment, when the external source is aphone, the eyepiece may use the phone's location capabilities to displaylocation-based augmented reality, including marker overlay frommarker-based AR applications. In embodiments, a VNC client running onthe eyepiece's processor or an associated device may be used to connectto and control a computer, where the computer's display is seen in theeyepiece by the wearer. In an embodiment, content from any source may bestreamed to the eyepiece, such as a display from a panoramic camerariding atop a vehicle, a user interface for a device, imagery from adrone or helicopter, and the like. The lenses may be chromic, such asphotochromic or electrochromic. The electrochromic lens may includeintegral chromic material or a chromic coating which changes the opacityof at least a portion of the lens in response to a burst of chargeapplied by the processor across the chromic material. For example, andreferring to FIG. 9, a chromic portion 902 of the lens 904 is showndarkened, such as for providing greater viewability by the wearer of theeyepiece when that portion is showing displayed content to the wearer.In embodiments, there may be a plurality of chromic areas on the lensthat may be controlled independently, such as large portions of thelens, sub-portions of the projected area, programmable areas of the lensand/or projected area, controlled to the pixel level, and the like.Activation of the chromic material may be controlled via the controltechniques further described herein or automatically enabled withcertain applications (e.g. a streaming video application, a sun trackingapplication) or in response to a frame-embedded UV sensor. The lens mayhave an angular sensitive coating which enables transmitting light-waveswith low incident angles and reflecting light, such as s-polarizedlight, with high incident angles. The chromic coating may be controlledin portions or in its entirety, such as by the control technologiesdescribed herein. The lenses may be variable contrast. In embodiments,the user may wear the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, where theeyepiece includes an optical assembly through which the user views asurrounding environment and displayed content. The optical assembly mayinclude a corrective element that corrects the user's view of thesurrounding environment, an integrated processor for handling contentfor display to the user, and an integrated image source for introducingthe content to the optical assembly. The optical assembly may include anelectrochromic layer that provides a display characteristic adjustmentthat is dependent on displayed content requirements and surroundingenvironmental conditions. In embodiments, the display characteristic maybe brightness, contrast, and the like. The surrounding environmentalcondition may be a level of brightness that without the displaycharacteristic adjustment would make the displayed content difficult tovisualize by the wearer of the eyepiece, where the displaycharacteristic adjustment may be applied to an area of the opticalassembly where content is being displayed.

In embodiments, the eyepiece may have brightness, contrast, spatial,resolution, and the like control over the eyepiece display area, such asto alter and improve the user's view of the displayed content against abright or dark surrounding environment. For example, a user may be usingthe eyepiece under bright daylight conditions, and in order for the userto clearly see the displayed content the display area my need to bealtered in brightness and/or contrast. Alternatively, the viewing areasurrounding the display area may be altered. In addition, the areaaltered, whether within the display area or not, may be spatiallyoriented or controlled per the application being implemented. Forinstance, only a small portion of the display area may need to bealtered, such as when that portion of the display area deviates fromsome determined or predetermined contrast ratio between the displayedportion of the display area and the surrounding environment. Inembodiments, portions of the lens may be altered in brightness,contrast, spatial extent, resolution, and the like, such as fixed toinclude the entire display area, adjusted to only a portion of the lens,adaptable and dynamic to changes in lighting conditions of thesurrounding environment and/or the brightness-contrast of the displayedcontent, and the like. Spatial extent (e.g. the area affected by thealteration) and resolution (e.g. display optical resolution) may varyover different portions of the lens, including high resolution segments,low resolution segments, single pixel segments, and the like, wherediffering segments may be combined to achieve the viewing objectives ofthe application(s) being executed. In embodiments, technologies forimplementing alterations of brightness, contrast, spatial extent,resolution, and the like, may include electrochromic materials, LCDtechnologies, embedded beads in the optics, flexible displays,suspension particle device (SPD) technologies, colloid technologies, andthe like.

In embodiments, there may be various modes of activation of theelectrochromic layer. For example, the user may enter sunglass modewhere the composite lenses appear only somewhat darkened or the user mayenter “Blackout” mode, where the composite lenses appear completelyblackened.

In an example of a technology that may be employed in implementing thealterations of brightness, contrast, spatial extent, resolution, and thelike, may be electrochromic materials, films, inks, and the like.Electrochromism is the phenomenon displayed by some materials ofreversibly changing appearance when electric charge is applied. Varioustypes of materials and structures can be used to constructelectrochromic devices, depending on the specific applications. Forinstance, electrochromic materials include tungsten oxide (WO₃), whichis the main chemical used in the production of electrochromic windows orsmart glass. In embodiments, electrochromic coatings may be used on thelens of the eyepiece in implementing alterations. In another example,electrochromic displays may be used in implementing ‘electronic paper’,which is designed to mimic the appearance of ordinary paper, where theelectronic paper displays reflected light like ordinary paper. Inembodiments, electrochromism may be implemented in a wide variety ofapplications and materials, including gyricon (consisting ofpolyethylene spheres embedded in a transparent silicone sheet, with eachsphere suspended in a bubble of oil so that they can rotate freely),electro-phoretic displays (forming images by rearranging charged pigmentparticles using an applied electric field), E-Ink technology,electro-wetting, electro-fluidic, interferometric modulator, organictransistors embedded into flexible substrates, nano-chromics displays(NCD), and the like.

In another example of a technology that may be employed in implementingthe alterations of brightness, contrast, spatial extent, resolution, andthe like, may be suspended particle devices (SPD). When a small voltageis applied to an SPD film, its microscopic particles, which in theirstable state are randomly dispersed, become aligned and allow light topass through. The response may be immediate, uniform, and with stablecolor throughout the film. Adjustment of the voltage may allow users tocontrol the amount of light, glare and heat passing through. Thesystem's response may range from a dark blue appearance, with up to fullblockage of light in its off state, to clear in its on state. Inembodiments, SPD technology may be an emulsion applied on a plasticsubstrate creating the active film. This plastic film may be laminated(as a single glass pane), suspended between two sheets of glass, plasticor other transparent materials, and the like.

The augmented reality glasses may include a lens 818 for each eye of thewearer. The lenses 818 may be made to fit readily into the frame 814, sothat each lens may be tailored for the person for whom the glasses areintended. Thus, the lenses may be corrective lenses, and may also betinted for use as sunglasses, or have other qualities suitable for theintended environment. Thus, the lenses may be tinted yellow, dark orother suitable color, or may be photochromic, so that the transparencyof the lens decreases when exposed to brighter light. In one embodiment,the lenses may also be designed for snap fitting into the frames, i.e.,snap on lenses are one embodiment.

Of course, the lenses need not be corrective lenses; they may simplyserve as sunglasses or as protection for the optical system within theframe. It goes without saying that the outer lenses are important forhelping to protect the rather expensive waveguides, viewing systems andelectronics within the augmented reality glasses. At a minimum, theouter lenses offer protection from scratching by the environment of theuser, whether sand, brambles, thorns and the like, in one environment,and flying debris, bullets and shrapnel, in another environment. Inaddition, the outer lenses may be decorative, acting to change a look ofthe lens, perhaps to appeal to the individuality or fashion sense of auser. The outer lenses may also help one individual user to distinguishhis or her glasses from others, for example, when many users aregathered together.

It is desirable that the lenses be suitable for impact, such as aballistic impact. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the lenses and theframes meet ANSI Standard Z87.1-2010 for ballistic resistance. In oneembodiment, the lenses also meet ballistic standard CE EN166B. Inanother embodiment, for military uses, the lenses and frames may meetthe standards of MIL-PRF-31013, standards 3.5.1.1 or 4.4.1.1. Each ofthese standards has slightly different requirements for ballisticresistance and each is intended to protect the eyes of the user fromimpact by high-speed projectiles or debris. While no particular materialis specified, polycarbonate, such as certain Lexan® grades, usually issufficient to pass tests specified in the appropriate standard.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8 a, the lenses snap in from theoutside of the frame, not the inside, for better impact resistance,since any impact is expected from the outside of the augmented realityeyeglasses. In this embodiment, replaceable lens 819 has a plurality ofsnap-fit arms 819 a which fit into recesses 820 a of frame 820. Theengagement angle 819 b of the arm is greater than 90°, while theengagement angle 820 b of the recess is also greater than 90°. Makingthe angles greater than right angles has the practical effect ofallowing removal of lens 819 from the frame 820. The lens 819 may needto be removed if the person's vision has changed or if a different lensis desired for any reason. The design of the snap fit is such that thereis a slight compression or bearing load between the lens and the frame.That is, the lens may be held firmly within the frame, such as by aslight interference fit of the lens within the frame.

The cantilever snap fit of FIG. 8 a is not the only possible way toremovably snap-fit the lenses and the frame. For example, an annularsnap fit may be used, in which a continuous sealing lip of the frameengages an enlarged edge of the lens, which then snap-fits into the lip,or possibly over the lip. Such a snap fit is typically used to join acap to an ink pen. This configuration may have an advantage of asturdier joint with fewer chances for admission of very small dust anddirt particles. Possible disadvantages include the fairly tighttolerances required around the entire periphery of both the lens andframe, and the requirement for dimensional integrity in all threedimensions over time.

It is also possible to use an even simpler interface, which may still beconsidered a snap-fit. A groove may be molded into an outer surface ofthe frame, with the lens having a protruding surface, which may beconsidered a tongue that fits into the groove. If the groove issemi-cylindrical, such as from about 270° to about 300°, the tongue willsnap into the groove and be firmly retained, with removal still possiblethrough the gap that remains in the groove. In this embodiment, shown inFIG. 8 b, a lens or replacement lens or cover 826 with a tongue 828 maybe inserted into a groove 827 in a frame 825, even though the lens orcover is not snap-fit into the frame. Because the fit is a close one, itwill act as a snap-fit and securely retain the lens in the frame.

In another embodiment, the frame may be made in two pieces, such as alower portion and an upper portion, with a conventionaltongue-and-groove fit. In another embodiment, this design may also usestandard fasteners to ensure a tight grip of the lens by the frame. Thedesign should not require disassembly of anything on the inside of theframe. Thus, the snap-on or other lens or cover should be assembled ontothe frame, or removed from the frame, without having to go inside theframe. As noted in other parts of this disclosure, the augmented realityglasses have many component parts. Some of the assemblies andsubassemblies may require careful alignment. Moving and jarring theseassemblies may be detrimental to their function, as will moving andjarring the frame and the outer or snap-on lens or cover.

In an embodiment, the electro-optics characteristics may be, but notlimited to, as follows:

Optic Characteristics Value WAVEGUIDE virtual display field of ~25-30degrees (equivalent to the view (Diagonal) FOV of a 24″ monitor viewedat 1 m distance) see-through field of view more than 80 degrees eyeclearance more than 18 mm Material zeonex optical plastic weight approx15 grams Wave Guide dimensions 60 × 30 × 10 mm (or 9) Size 15.5 mm(diagonal) Material PMMA (optical plastics) FOV 53.5° (diagonal) Activedisplay area 12.7 mm × 9.0 mm Resolution 800 × 600 pixels VIRTUALIMAGING SYSTEM Type Folded FFS prism Effective focal length 15 mm Exitpupil diameter 8 mm Eye relief 18.25 mm F# 1.875 Number of free formsurfaces 2-3 AUGMENTED VIEWING SYSTEM Type Free form Lens Number of freeform surfaces 2 Other Parameters Wavelength 656.3-486.1 nm Field of view45° H × 32° V Vignetting 0.15 for the top and bottom fields Distortion<12% at the maximum field Image quality MTF >10% at 301 p/mm

In an embodiment, the Projector Characteristics may be as follows:

Projector Characteristics Value Brightness Adjustable, .25-2 LumensVoltage 3.6 VDC Illumination Red, Green and Blue LEDs Display SVGA 800 ×600 dpi Syndiant LCOS Display Power Consumption Adjustable, 50 to 250 mwTarget MPE Dimensions Approximately 24 mm × 12 mm × 6 mm FocusAdjustable Optics Housing 6061-T6 Aluminum and Glass-filled ABS/PCWeight 5 gms RGB Engine Adjustable Color Output ARCHITECTURE 2x 1 GHZprocessor cores 633 MHZ DSPs 30M polygons/sec DC graphics acceleratorIMAGE CORRECTION real-time sensing image enhancement noise reductionkeystone correction perspective correction

In another embodiment, an augmented reality eyepiece may includeelectrically-controlled lenses as part of the microprojector or as partof the optics between the microprojector and the waveguide. FIG. 21depicts an embodiment with such liquid lenses 2152.

The glasses also include at least one camera or optical sensor 2130 thatmay furnish an image or images for viewing by the user. The images areformed by a microprojector 2114 on each side of the glasses forconveyance to the waveguide 2108 on that side. In one embodiment, anadditional optical element, a variable focus lens 2152 is alsofurnished. The lens is electrically adjustable by the user so that theimage seen in the waveguides 2108 are focused for the user.

Variable lenses may include the so-called liquid lenses furnished byVarioptic, S. A., Lyons, France, or by LensVector, Inc., Mountain View,Calif., U.S.A. Such lenses may include a central portion with twoimmiscible liquids. Typically, in these lenses, the path of lightthrough the lens, i.e., the focal length of the lens is altered orfocused by applying an electric potential between electrodes immersed inthe liquids. At least one of the liquids is affected by the resultingelectric or magnetic field potential. Thus, electrowetting may occur, asdescribed in U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ. 2010/0007807, assigned to LensVector,Inc. Other techniques are described in LensVector Pat. Appl. Publs.2009/021331 and 2009/0316097. All three of these disclosures areincorporated herein by reference, as though each page and figures wereset forth verbatim herein.

Other patent documents from Varioptic, S. A., describe other devices andtechniques for a variable focus lens, which may also work through anelectrowetting phenomenon. These documents include U.S. Pats. No.7,245,440 and 7,894,440 and U.S. Pat. Appl. Pubis. 2010/0177386 and2010/0295987, each of which is also incorporated herein by reference, asthough each page and figures were set forth verbatim herein. In thesedocuments, the two liquids typically have different indices ofrefraction and different electrical conductivities, e.g., one liquid isconductive, such as an aqueous liquid, and the other liquid isinsulating, such as an oily liquid. Applying an electric potential maychange the thickness of the lens and does change the path of lightthrough the lens, thus changing the focal length of the lens.

The electrically-adjustable lenses may be controlled by the controls ofthe glasses. In one embodiment, a focus adjustment is made by calling upa menu from the controls and adjusting the focus of the lens. The lensesmay be controlled separately or may be controlled together. Theadjustment is made by physically turning a control knob, by indicatingwith a gesture, or by voice command. In another embodiment, theaugmented reality glasses may also include a rangefinder, and focus ofthe electrically-adjustable lenses may be controlled automatically bypointing the rangefinder, such as a laser rangefinder, to a target orobject a desired distance away from the user.

As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,894,440, discussed above, the variablelenses may also be applied to the outer lenses of the augmented realityglasses or eyepiece. In one embodiment, the lenses may simply take theplace of a corrective lens. The variable lenses with theirelectric-adjustable control may be used instead of or in addition to theimage source- or projector-mounted lenses. The corrective lens insertsprovide corrective optics for the user's environment, the outside world,whether the waveguide displays are active or not.

It is important to stabilize the images presented to the wearer of theaugmented reality glasses or eyepiece(s), that is, the images seen inthe waveguide. The view or images presented travel from one or twodigital cameras or sensors mounted on the eyepiece, to digitalcircuitry, where the images are processed and, if desired, stored asdigital data before they appear in the display of the glasses. In anyevent, and as discussed above, the digital data is then used to form animage, such as by using an LCOS display and a series of RGB lightemitting diodes. The light images are processed using a series oflenses, a polarizing beam splitter, an electrically-powered liquidcorrective lens and at least one transition lens from the projector tothe.

The process of gathering and presenting images includes severalmechanical and optical linkages between components of the augmentedreality glasses. It seems clear, therefore, that some form ofstabilization will be required. This may include optical stabilizationof the most immediate cause, the camera itself, since it is mounted on amobile platform, the glasses, which themselves are movably mounted on amobile user. Accordingly, camera stabilization or correction may berequired. In addition, at least some stabilization or correction shouldbe used for the liquid variable lens. Ideally, a stabilization circuitat that point could correct not only for the liquid lens, but also forany aberration and vibration from many parts of the circuit upstreamfrom the liquid lens, including the image source. One advantage of thepresent system is that many commercial off-the-shelf cameras are veryadvanced and typically have at least one image-stabilization feature oroption. Thus, there may be many embodiments of the present disclosure,each with a same or a different method of stabilizing an image or a veryfast stream of images, as discussed below. The term opticalstabilization is typically used herein with the meaning of physicallystabilizing the camera, camera platform, or other physical object, whileimage stabilization refers to data manipulation and processing.

One technique of image stabilization is performed on digital images asthey are formed. This technique may use pixels outside the border of thevisible frame as a buffer for the undesired motion. Alternatively, thetechnique may use another relatively steady area or basis in succeedingframes. This technique is applicable to video cameras, shifting theelectronic image from frame to frame of the video in a manner sufficientto counteract the motion. This technique does not depend on sensors anddirectly stabilizes the images by reducing vibrations and otherdistracting motion from the moving camera. In some techniques, the speedof the images may be slowed in order to add the stabilization process tothe remainder of the digital process, and requiring more time per image.These techniques may use a global motion vector calculated fromframe-to-frame motion differences to determine the direction of thestabilization.

Optical stabilization for images uses a gravity- orelectronically-driven mechanism to move or adjust an optical element orimaging sensor such that it counteracts the ambient vibrations. Anotherway to optically stabilize the displayed content is to providegyroscopic correction or sensing of the platform housing the augmentedreality glasses, e.g., the user. As noted above, the sensors availableand used on the augmented reality glasses or eyepiece include MEMSgyroscopic sensors. These sensors capture movement and motion in threedimensions in very small increments and can be used as feedback tocorrect the images sent from the camera in real time. It is clear thatat least a large part of the undesired and undesirable movement probablyis caused by movement of the user and the camera itself. These largermovements may include gross movements of the user, e.g., walking orrunning, riding in a vehicle. Smaller vibrations may also result withinthe augmented reality eyeglasses, that is, vibrations in the componentsin the electrical and mechanical linkages that form the path from thecamera (input) to the image in the waveguide (output). These grossmovements may be more important to correct or to account for, ratherthan, for instance, independent and small movements in the linkages ofcomponents downstream from the projector.

Motion sensing may thus be used to sense the motion and correct for it,as in optical stabilization, or to sense the motion and then correct theimages that are being taken and processed, as in image stabilization. Anapparatus for sensing motion and correcting the images or the data isdepicted in FIG. 34A. In this apparatus, one or more kinds of motionsensors may be used, including accelerometers, angular position sensorsor gyroscopes, such as MEMS gyroscopes. Data from the sensors is fedback to the appropriate sensor interfaces, such as analog to digitalconverters (ADCs) or other suitable interface, such as digital signalprocessors (DSPs). A microprocessor then processes this information, asdiscussed above, and sends image-stabilized frames to the display driverand then to the see-through display or waveguide discussed above. In oneembodiment, the display begins with the RGB display in themicroprojector of the augmented reality eyepiece.

In another embodiment, a video sensor or augmented reality glasses, orother device with a video sensor may be mounted on a vehicle. In thisembodiment, the video stream may be communicated through atelecommunication capability or an Internet capability to personnel inthe vehicle. One application could be sightseeing or touring of an area.Another embodiment could be exploring or reconnaissance, or evenpatrolling, of an area. In these embodiments, gyroscopic stabilizationof the image sensor would be helpful, rather than applying a gyroscopiccorrection to the images or digital data representing the images. Anembodiment of this technique is depicted in FIG. 34B. In this technique,a camera or image sensor 3407 is mounted on a vehicle 3401. One or moremotion sensors 3406, such as gyroscopes, are mounted in the cameraassembly 3405. A stabilizing platform 3403 receives information from themotion sensors and stabilizes the camera assembly 3405, so that jitterand wobble are minimized while the camera operates. This is true opticalstabilization. Alternatively, the motion sensors or gyroscopes may bemounted on or within the stabilizing platform itself. This techniquewould actually provide optical stabilization, stabilizing the camera orimage sensor, in contrast to digital stabilization, correcting the imageafterwards by computer processing of the data taken by the camera.

In one technique, the key to optical stabilization is to apply thestabilization or correction before an image sensor converts the imageinto digital information. In one technique, feedback from sensors, suchas gyroscopes or angular velocity sensors, is encoded and sent to anactuator that moves the image sensor, much as an autofocus mechanismadjusts a focus of a lens. The image sensor is moved in such a way as tomaintain the projection of the image onto the image plane, which is afunction of the focal length of the lens being used. Autoranging andfocal length information, perhaps from a range finder of the interactivehead-mounted eyepiece, may be acquired through the lens itself. Inanother technique, angular velocity sensors, sometimes also calledgyroscopic sensors, can be used to detect, respectively, horizontal andvertical movements. The motion detected may then be fed back toelectromagnets to move a floating lens of the camera. This opticalstabilization technique, however, would have to be applied to each lenscontemplated, making the result rather expensive.

Stabilization of the liquid lens is discussed in U.S. Pat. Appl. Publ.2010/0295987, assigned to Varioptic, S. A., Lyon, France. In theory,control of a liquid lens is relatively simple, since there is only onevariable to control: the level of voltage applied to the electrodes inthe conducting and non-conducting liquids of the lens, using, forexamples, the lens housing and the cap as electrodes. Applying a voltagecauses a change or tilt in the liquid-liquid interface via theelectrowetting effect. This change or tilt adjusts the focus or outputof the lens. In its most basic terms, a control scheme with feedbackwould then apply a voltage and determine the effect of the appliedvoltage on the result, i.e., a focus or an astigmatism of the image. Thevoltages may be applied in patterns, for example, equal and opposite +and − voltages, both positive voltages of differing magnitude, bothnegative voltages of differing magnitude, and so forth. Such lenses areknown as electrically variable optic lenses or electro-optic lenses.

Voltages may be applied to the electrodes in patterns for a short periodof time and a check on the focus or astigmatism made. The check may bemade, for instance, by an image sensor. In addition, sensors on thecamera or in this case the lens, may detect motion of the camera orlens. Motion sensors would include accelerometers, gyroscopes, angularvelocity sensors or piezoelectric sensors mounted on the liquid lens ora portion of the optic train very near the liquid lens. In oneembodiment, a table, such as a calibration table, is then constructed ofvoltages applied and the degree of correction or voltages needed forgiven levels of movement. More sophistication may also be added, forexample, by using segmented electrodes in different portions of theliquid so that four voltages may be applied rather than two. Of course,if four electrodes are used, four voltages may be applied, in many morepatterns than with only two electrodes. These patterns may include equaland opposite positive and negative voltages to opposite segments, and soforth. An example is depicted in FIG. 34C. Four electrodes 3409 aremounted within a liquid lens housing (not shown). Two electrodes aremounted in or near the non-conducting liquid and two are mounted in ornear the conducting liquid. Each electrode is independent in terms ofthe possible voltage that may be applied.

Look-up or calibration tables may be constructed and placed in thememory of the augmented reality glasses. In use, the accelerometer orother motion sensor will sense the motion of the glasses, i.e., thecamera on the glasses or the lens itself. A motion sensor such as anaccelerometer will sense in particular, small vibration-type motionsthat interfere with smooth delivery of images to the waveguide. In oneembodiment, the image stabilization techniques described here can beapplied to the electrically-controllable liquid lens so that the imagefrom the projector is corrected immediately. This will stabilize theoutput of the projector, at least partially correcting for the vibrationand movement of the augmented reality eyepiece, as well as at least somemovement by the user. There may also be a manual control for adjustingthe gain or other parameter of the corrections. Note that this techniquemay also be used to correct for near-sightedness or far-sightedness ofthe individual user, in addition to the focus adjustment alreadyprovided by the image sensor controls and discussed as part of theadjustable-focus projector.

Another variable focus element uses tunable liquid crystal cells tofocus an image. These are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Appl.Publ. Nos. 2009/0213321, 2009/0316097 and 2010/0007807, which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety and relied on. In thismethod, a liquid crystal material is contained within a transparentcell, preferably with a matching index of refraction. The cell includestransparent electrodes, such as those made from indium tin oxide (ITO).Using one spiral-shaped electrode, and a second spiral-shaped electrodeor a planar electrode, a spatially non-uniform magnetic field isapplied. Electrodes of other shapes may be used. The shape of themagnetic field determines the rotation of molecules in the liquidcrystal cell to achieve a change in refractive index and thus a focus ofthe lens. The liquid crystals can thus be electromagneticallymanipulated to change their index of refraction, making the tunableliquid crystal cell act as a lens.

In a first embodiment, a tunable liquid crystal cell 3420 is depicted inFIG. 34D. The cell includes an inner layer of liquid crystal 3421 andthin layers 3423 of orienting material such as polyimide. This materialhelps to orient the liquid crystals in a preferred direction.Transparent electrodes 3425 are on each side of the orienting material.An electrode may be planar, or may be spiral shaped as shown on theright in FIG. 34D. Transparent glass substrates 3427 contain thematerials within the cell. The electrodes are formed so that they willlend shape to the magnetic field. As noted, a spiral shaped electrode onone or both sides, such that the two are not symmetrical, is used in oneembodiment. A second embodiment is depicted in FIG. 34E. Tunable liquidcrystal cell 3430 includes central liquid crystal material 3431,transparent glass substrate walls 3433, and transparent electrodes.Bottom electrode 3435 is planar, while top electrode 3437 is in theshape of a spiral. Transparent electrodes may be made of indium tinoxide (ITO).

Additional electrodes may be used for quick reversion of the liquidcrystal to a non-shaped or natural state. A small control voltage isthus used to dynamically change the refractive index of the material thelight passes through. The voltage generates a spatially non-uniformmagnetic field of a desired shape, allowing the liquid crystal tofunction as a lens.

In one embodiment, the camera includes the black silicon, short waveinfrared (SWIR) CMOS sensor described elsewhere in this patent. Inanother embodiment, the camera is a 5 megapixel (MP)optically-stabilized video sensor. In one embodiment, the controlsinclude a 3 GHz microprocessor or microcontroller, and may also includea 633 MHz digital signal processor with a 30 M polygon/second graphicaccelerator for real-time image processing for images from the camera orvideo sensor. In one embodiment, the augmented reality glasses mayinclude a wireless internet, radio or telecommunications capability forwideband, personal area network (PAN), local area network (LAN), a widelocal area network, WLAN, conforming to IEEE 802.11, or reach-backcommunications. The equipment furnished in one embodiment includes aBluetooth capability, conforming to IEEE 802.15. In one embodiment, theaugmented reality glasses include an encryption system, such as a256-bit Advanced Encryption System (AES) encryption system or othersuitable encryption program, for secure communications.

In one embodiment, the wireless telecommunications may include acapability for a 3G or 4G network and may also include a wirelessinternet capability. In order for an extended life, the augmentedreality eyepiece or glasses may also include at least one lithium-ionbattery, and as discussed above, a recharging capability. The rechargingplug may comprise an AC/DC power converter and may be capable of usingmultiple input voltages, such as 120 or 240 VAC. The controls foradjusting the focus of the adjustable focus lenses in one embodimentcomprises a 2D or 3D wireless air mouse or other non-contact controlresponsive to gestures or movements of the user. A 2D mouse is availablefrom Logitech, Fremont, Calif., USA. A 3D mouse is described herein, orothers such as the Cideko AVK05 available from Cideko, Taiwan, R.O.C,may be used.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece may comprise electronics suitable forcontrolling the optics, and associated systems, including a centralprocessing unit, non-volatile memory, digital signal processors, 3-Dgraphics accelerators, and the like. The eyepiece may provide additionalelectronic elements or features, including inertial navigation systems,cameras, microphones, audio output, power, communication systems,sensors, stopwatch or chronometer functions, thermometer, vibratorytemple motors, motion sensor, a microphone to enable audio control ofthe system, a UV sensor to enable contrast and dimming with photochromicmaterials, and the like.

In an embodiment, the central processing unit (CPU) of the eyepiece maybe an OMAP 4, with dual 1 GHz processor cores. The CPU may include a 633MHz DSP, giving a capability for the CPU of 30 million polygons/second.

The system may also provide dual micro-SD (secure digital) slots forprovisioning of additional removable non-volatile memory.

An on-board camera may provide 1.3 MP color and record up to 60 minutesof video footage. The recorded video may be transferred wirelessly orusing a mini-USB transfer device to off-load footage.

The communications system-on-a-chip (SOC) may be capable of operatingwith wide local area networks (WLAN), Bluetooth version 3.0, a GPSreceiver, an FM radio, and the like.

The eyepiece may operate on a 3.6 VDC lithium-ion rechargeable batteryfor long battery life and ease of use. An additional power source may beprovided through solar cells on the exterior of the frame of the system.These solar cells may supply power and may also be capable of rechargingthe lithium-ion battery.

The total power consumption of the eyepiece may be approximately 400 mW,but is variable depending on features and applications used. Forexample, processor-intensive applications with significant videographics demand more power, and will be closer to 400 mW. Simpler, lessvideo-intensive applications will use less power. The operation time ona charge also may vary with application and feature usage.

The micro-projector illumination engine, also known herein as theprojector, may include multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs). In orderto provide life-like color, Osram red, Cree green, and Cree blue LEDsare used. These are die-based LEDs. The RGB engine may provide anadjustable color output, allowing a user to optimize viewing for variousprograms and applications.

In embodiments, illumination may be added to the glasses or controlledthrough various means. For example, LED lights or other lights may beembedded in the frame of the eyepiece, such as in the nose bridge,around the composite lens, or at the temples.

The intensity of the illumination and or the color of illumination maybe modulated. Modulation may be accomplished through the various controltechnologies described herein, through various applications, filteringand magnification.

By way of example, illumination may be modulated through various controltechnologies described herein such as through the adjustment of acontrol knob, a gesture, eye movement, or voice command. If a userdesires to increase the intensity of illumination, the user may adjust acontrol knob on the glasses or he may adjust a control knob in the userinterface displayed on the lens or by other means. The user may use eyemovements to control the knob displayed on the lens or he may controlthe knob by other means. The user may adjust illumination through amovement of the hand or other body movement such that the intensity orcolor of illumination changes based on the movement made by the user.Also, the user may adjust the illumination through a voice command suchas by speaking a phrase requesting increased or decreased illuminationor requesting other colors to be displayed. Additionally, illuminationmodulation may be achieved through any control technology describedherein or by other means.

Further, the illumination may be modulated per the particularapplication being executed. As an example, an application mayautomatically adjust the intensity of illumination or color ofillumination based on the optimal settings for that application. If thecurrent levels of illumination are not at the optimal levels for theapplication being executed, a message or command may be sent to providefor illumination adjustment.

In embodiments, illumination modulation may be accomplished throughfiltering and or through magnification. For example, filteringtechniques may be employed that allow the intensity and or color of thelight to be changed such that the optimal or desired illumination isachieved. Also, in embodiments, the intensity of the illumination may bemodulated by applying greater or less magnification to reach the desiredillumination intensity.

The projector may be connected to the display to output the video andother display elements to the user. The display used may be an SVGA800×600 dots/inch SYNDIANT liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display.

The target MPE dimensions for the system may be 24 mm×12 mm×6 mm.

The focus may be adjustable, allowing a user to refine the projectoroutput to suit their needs.

The optics system may be contained within a housing fabricated for6061-T6 aluminum and glass-filled ABS/PC.

The weight of the system, in an embodiment, is estimated to be 3.75ounces, or 95 grams.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece and associated electronics provide nightvision capability. This night vision capability may be enabled by ablack silicon SWIR sensor. Black silicon is a complementary metal-oxidesilicon (CMOS) processing technique that enhances the photo response ofsilicon over 100 times. The spectral range is expanded deep into theshort wave infra-red (SWIR) wavelength range. In this technique, a 300nm deep absorbing and anti-reflective layer is added to the glasses.This layer offers improved responsivity as shown in FIG. 11, where theresponsivity of black silicon is much greater than silicon's over thevisible and NIR ranges and extends well into the SWIR range. Thistechnology is an improvement over current technology, which suffers fromextremely high cost, performance issues, as well as high volumemanufacturability problems. Incorporating this technology into nightvision optics brings the economic advantages of CMOS technology into thedesign.

These advantages include using active illumination only when needed. Insome instances there may be sufficient natural illumination at night,such as during a full moon. When such is the case, artificial nightvision using active illumination may not be necessary. With blacksilicon CMOS-based SWIR sensors, active illumination may not be neededduring these conditions, and is not provided, thus improving batterylife.

In addition, a black silicon image sensor may have over eight times thesignal to noise ration found in costly indium-gallium arsenide imagesensors under night sky conditions. Better resolution is also providedby this technology, offering much higher resolution than available usingcurrent technology for night vision. Typically, long wavelength imagesproduced by CMOS-based SWIR have been difficult to interpret, havinggood heat detection, but poor resolution. This problem is solved with ablack image silicon SWIR sensor, which relies on much shorterwavelengths. SWIR is highly desirable for battlefield night visionglasses for these reasons. FIG. 12 illustrates the effectiveness ofblack silicon night vision technology, providing both before and afterimages of seeing through a) dust; b) fog, and c) smoke. The images inFIG. 12 demonstrate the performance of the new VIS/NIR/SWIR blacksilicon sensor.

Previous night vision systems suffered from “blooms” from bright lightsources, such as streetlights. These “blooms” were particularly strongin image intensifying technology and are also associated with a loss ofresolution. In some cases, cooling systems are necessary in imageintensifying technology systems, increasing weight and shorteningbattery power lifespan. FIG. 17 shows the difference in image qualitybetween A) a flexible platform of uncooled CMOS image sensors capable ofVIS/NIR/SWIR imaging and B) an image intensified night vision system.

FIG. 13 depicts the difference in structure between current or incumbentvision enhancement technology and uncooled CMOS image sensors. Theincumbent platform (FIG. 13A) limits deployment because of cost, weight,power consumption, spectral range, and reliability issues. Incumbentsystems 1300 are typically comprised of a front lens 1301, photocathode1302, micro channel plate 1303, high voltage power supply 1304,phosphorous screen 1305, and eyepiece 1306. This is in contrast to aflexible platform (FIG. 13B) of uncooled CMOS image sensors 1307 capableof VIS/NIR/SWIR imaging at a fraction of the cost, power consumption,and weight. These much simpler sensors include a front lens 1308 and animage sensor 1309 with a digital image output.

These advantages derive from the CMOS compatible processing techniquethat enhances the photo response of silicon over 100 times and extendsthe spectral range deep into the short wave infrared region. Thedifference in responsivity is illustrated in FIG. 13C. While typicalnight vision goggles are limited to the UV, visible and near infrared(NIR) ranges, to about 1100 nm (1.1 micrometers) the newer CMOS imagesensor ranges also include the short wave infrared (SWIR) spectrum, outto as much as 2000 nm (2 micrometers).

The black silicon core technology may offer significant improvement overcurrent night vision glasses. Femtosecond laser doping may enhance thelight detection properties of silicon across a broad spectrum.Additionally, optical response may be improved by a factor of 100 to10,000. The black silicon technology is a fast, scalable, and CMOScompatible technology at a very low cost, compared to current nightvision systems. Black silicon technology may also provide a lowoperation bias, with 3.3 V typical. In addition, uncooled performancemay be possible up to 50° C. Cooling requirements of current technologyincrease both weight and power consumption, and also create discomfortin users. As noted above, the black silicon core technology offers ahigh-resolution replacement for current image intensifier technology.Black silicon core technology may provide high speed electronicshuttering at speeds up to 1000 frames/second with minimal cross talk.In certain embodiments of the night vision eyepiece, an OLED display maybe preferred over other optical displays, such as the LCoS display.

Further advantages of the eyepiece may include robust connectivity. Thisconnectivity enables download and transmission using Bluetooth,Wi-Fi/Internet, cellular, satellite, 3G, FM/AM, TV, and UVB transceiver.

The eyepiece may provide its own cellular connectivity, such as though apersonal wireless connection with a cellular system. The personalwireless connection may be available for only the wearer of theeyepiece, or it may be available to a plurality of proximate users, suchas in a Wi-Fi hot spot (e.g. MiFi), where the eyepiece provides a localhotspot for others to utilize. These proximate users may be otherwearers of an eyepiece, or users of some other wireless computingdevice, such as a mobile communications facility (e.g. mobile phone).Through this personal wireless connection, the wearer may not need othercellular or Internet wireless connections to connect to wirelessservices. For instance, without a personal wireless connectionintegrated into the eyepiece, the wearer may have to find a WiFiconnection point or tether to their mobile communications facility inorder to establish a wireless connection. In embodiments, the eyepiecemay be able to replace the need for having a separate mobilecommunications device, such as a mobile phone, mobile computer, and thelike, by integrating these functions and user interfaces into theeyepiece. For instance, the eyepiece may have an integrated WiFiconnection or hotspot, a real or virtual keyboard interface, a USB hub,speakers (e.g. to stream music to) or speaker input connections,integrated camera, external camera, and the like. In embodiments, anexternal device, in connectivity with the eyepiece, may provide a singleunit with a personal network connection (e.g. WiFi, cellularconnection), keyboard, control pad (e.g. a touch pad), and the like.

The eyepiece may include MEMS-based inertial navigation systems, such asa GPS processor, an accelerometer (e.g. for enabling head control of thesystem and other functions), a gyroscope, an altimeter, an inclinometer,a speedometer/odometer, a laser rangefinder, and a magnetometer, whichalso enables image stabilization.

The eyepiece may include integrated headphones, such as the articulatingearbud 120, that provide audio output to the user or wearer.

In an embodiment, a forward facing camera (see FIG. 21) integrated withthe eyepiece may enable basic augmented reality. In augmented reality, aviewer can image what is being viewed and then layer an augmented,edited, tagged, or analyzed version on top of the basic view. In thealternative, associated data may be displayed with or over the basicimage. If two cameras are provided and are mounted at the correctinterpupillary distance for the user, stereo video imagery may becreated. This capability may be useful for persons requiring visionassistance. Many people suffer from deficiencies in their vision, suchas near-sightedness, far-sightedness, and so forth. A camera and a veryclose, virtual screen as described herein provides a “video” for suchpersons, the video adjustable in terms of focal point, nearer orfarther, and fully in control by the person via voice or other command.This capability may also be useful for persons suffering diseases of theeye, such as cataracts, retinitis pigmentosa, and the like. So long assome organic vision capability remains, an augmented reality eyepiececan help a person see more clearly. Embodiments of the eyepiece mayfeature one or more of magnification, increased brightness, and abilityto map content to the areas of the eye that are still healthy.Embodiments of the eyepiece may be used as bifocals or a magnifyingglass. The wearer may be able to increase zoom in the field of view orincrease zoom within a partial field of view. In an embodiment, anassociated camera may make an image of the object and then present theuser with a zoomed picture. A user interface may allow a wearer to pointat the area that he wants zoomed, such as with the control techniquesdescribed herein, so the image processing can stay on task as opposed tojust zooming in on everything in the camera's field of view.

A rear-facing camera (not shown) may also be incorporated into theeyepiece in a further embodiment. In this embodiment, the rear-facingcamera may enable eye control of the eyepiece, with the user makingapplication or feature selection by directing his or her eyes to aspecific item displayed on the eyepiece.

The camera may be a microcassegrain telescoping folded optic camera intothe device. The microcassegrain telescoping folded optic camera may bemounted on a handheld device, such as the bio-print device, thebio-phone, and could also be mounted on glasses used as part of abio-kit to collect biometric data.

A cassegrain reflector is a combination of a primary concave mirror anda secondary convex mirror. These reflectors are often used in opticaltelescopes and radio antennas because they deliver good light (or sound)collecting capability in a shorter, smaller package.

In a symmetrical cassegrain both mirrors are aligned about the opticalaxis, and the primary mirror usually has a hole in the center, allowinglight to reach the eyepiece or a camera chip or light detection device,such as a CCD chip. An alternate design, often used in radio telescopes,places the final focus in front of the primary reflector. A furtheralternate design may tilt the mirrors to avoid obstructing the primaryor secondary mirror and may eliminate the need for a hole in the primarymirror or secondary mirror. The microcassegrain telescoping folded opticcamera may use any of the above variations, with the final selectiondetermined by the desired size of the optic device.

The classic cassegrain configuration uses a parabolic reflector as theprimary mirror and a hyperbolic mirror as the secondary mirror. Furtherembodiments of the microcassegrain telescoping folded optic camera mayuse a hyperbolic primary mirror and/or a spherical or ellipticalsecondary mirror. In operation the classic cassegrain with a parabolicprimary mirror and a hyperbolic secondary mirror reflects the light backdown through a hole in the primary, as shown in FIG. 35. Folding theoptical path makes the design more compact, and in a “micro” size,suitable for use with the bio-print sensor and bio-print kit describedin co-pending application titled “Local Advertising Content on anInteractive Head-Mounted Eyepiece” filed on Feb. 28, 2011. In a foldedoptic system, the beam is bent to make the optical path much longer thanthe physical length of the system. One common example of folded opticsis prismatic binoculars. In a camera lens the secondary mirror may bemounted on an optically flat, optically clear glass plate that closesthe lens tube. This support eliminates “star-shaped” diffraction effectsthat are caused by a straight-vaned support spider. This allows for asealed closed tube and protects the primary mirror, albeit at some lossof light collecting power.

The cassegrain design also makes use of the special properties ofparabolic and hyperbolic reflectors. A concave parabolic reflector willreflect all incoming light rays parallel to its axis of symmetry to asingle focus point. A convex hyperbolic reflector has two foci andreflects all light rays directed at one focus point toward the otherfocus point. Mirrors in this type of lens are designed and positioned toshare one focus, placing the second focus of the hyperbolic mirror atthe same point as where the image is observed, usually just outside theeyepiece. The parabolic mirror reflects parallel light rays entering thelens to its focus, which is coincident with the focus of the hyperbolicmirror. The hyperbolic mirror then reflects those light rays to theother focus point, where the camera records the image.

FIG. 36 shows the configuration of the microcassegrain telescopingfolded optic camera. The camera may be mounted on augmented realityglasses, a bio-phone, or other biometric collection device. Theassembly, 3600 has multiple telescoping segments that allow the camerato extend with cassegrain optics providing for a longer optical path.Threads 3602 allow the camera to be mounted on a device, such asaugmented reality glasses or other biometric collection device. Whilethe embodiment depicted in FIG. 36 uses threads, other mounting schemessuch as bayonet mount, knobs, or press-fit, may also be used. A firsttelescoping section 3604 also acts as an external housing when the lensis in the fully retracted position. The camera may also incorporate amotor to drive the extension and retraction of the camera. A secondtelescoping section 3606 may also be included. Other embodiments mayincorporate varying numbers of telescoping sections, depending on thelength of optical path needed for the selected task or data to becollected. A third telescoping section 3608 includes the lens and areflecting mirror. The reflecting mirror may be a primary reflector ifthe camera is designed following classic cassegrain design. Thesecondary mirror may be contained in first telescoping section 3604.

Further embodiments may utilize microscopic mirrors to form the camera,while still providing for a longer optical path through the use offolded optics. The same principles of cassegrain design are used.

Lens 3610 provides optics for use in conjunction with the folded opticsof the cassegrain design. The lens 3610 may be selected from a varietyof types, and may vary depending on the application. The threads 3602permit a variety of cameras to be interchanged depending on the needs ofthe user.

Eye control of feature and option selection may be controlled andactivated by object recognition software loaded on the system processor.Object recognition software may enable augmented reality, combine therecognition output with querying a database, combine the recognitionoutput with a computational tool to determine dependencies/likelihoods,and the like.

Three-dimensional viewing is also possible in an additional embodimentthat incorporates a 3D projector. Two stacked picoprojectors (not shown)may be used to create the three dimensional image output.

Referring to FIG. 10, a plurality of digital CMOS Sensors with redundantmicros and DSPs for each sensor array and projector detect visible, nearinfrared, and short wave infrared light to enable passive day and nightoperations, such as real-time image enhancement 1002, real-time keystonecorrection 1004, and real-time virtual perspective correction 1008.

The augmented reality eyepiece or glasses may be powered by any storedenergy system, such as battery power, solar power, line power, and thelike. A solar energy collector may be placed on the frame, on a beltclip, and the like. Battery charging may occur using a wall charger, carcharger, on a belt clip, in a glasses case, and the like. In oneembodiment, the eyepiece may be rechargeable and be equipped with amini-USB connector for recharging. In another embodiment, the eyepiecemay be equipped for remote inductive recharging by one or more remoteinductive power conversion technologies, such as those provided byPowercast, Ligonier, Pa., USA; and Fulton Int'l. Inc., Ada, Mich., USA,which also owns another provider, Splashpower, Inc., Cambridge, UK.

The augmented reality eyepiece also includes a camera and any interfacenecessary to connect the camera to the circuit. The output of the cameramay be stored in memory and may also be displayed on the displayavailable to the wearer of the glasses. A display driver may also beused to control the display. The augmented reality device also includesa power supply, such as a battery, as shown, power management circuitsand a circuit for recharging the power supply. As noted elsewhere,recharging may take place via a hard connection, e.g., a mini-USBconnector, or by means of an inductor, a solar panel input, and soforth.

The control system for the eyepiece or glasses may include a controlalgorithm for conserving power when the power source, such as a battery,indicates low power. This conservation algorithm may include shuttingpower down to applications that are energy intensive, such as lighting,a camera, or sensors that require high levels of energy, such as anysensor requiring a heater, for example. Other conservation steps mayinclude slowing down the power used for a sensor or for a camera, e.g.,slowing the sampling or frame rates, going to a slower sampling or framerate when the power is low; or shutting down the sensor or camera at aneven lower level. Thus, there may be at least three operating modesdepending on the available power: a normal mode; a conserve power mode;and an emergency or shutdown mode.

Applications of the present disclosure may be controlled throughmovements and direct actions of the wearer, such as movement of his orher hand, finger, feet, head, eyes, and the like, enabled throughfacilities of the eyepiece (e.g. accelerometers, gyros, cameras, opticalsensors, GPS sensors, and the like) and/or through facilities worn ormounted on the wearer (e.g. body mounted sensor control facilities). Inthis way, the wearer may directly control the eyepiece through movementsand/or actions of their body without the use of a traditional hand-heldremote controller. For instance, the wearer may have a sense device,such as a position sense device, mounted on one or both hands, such ason at least one finger, on the palm, on the back of the hand, and thelike, where the position sense device provides position data of thehand, and provides wireless communications of position data as commandinformation to the eyepiece. In embodiments, the sense device of thepresent disclosure may include a gyroscopic device (e.g. electronicgyroscope, MEMS gyroscope, mechanical gyroscope, quantum gyroscope, ringlaser gyroscope, fiber optic gyroscope), accelerometers, MEMSaccelerometers, velocity sensors, force sensors, optical sensors,proximity sensor, RFID, and the like, in the providing of positioninformation. For example, a wearer may have a position sense devicemounted on their right index finger, where the device is able to sensemotion of the finger. In this example, the user may activate theeyepiece either through some switching mechanism on the eyepiece orthrough some predetermined motion sequence of the finger, such as movingthe finger quickly, tapping the finger against a hard surface, and thelike. Note that tapping against a hard surface may be interpretedthrough sensing by accelerometers, force sensors, and the like. Theposition sense device may then transmit motions of the finger as commandinformation, such as moving the finger in the air to move a cursoracross the displayed or projected image, moving in quick motion toindicate a selection, and the like. In embodiments, the position sensedevice may send sensed command information directly to the eyepiece forcommand processing, or the command processing circuitry may beco-located with the position sense device, such as in this example,mounted on the finger as part of an assembly including the sensors ofthe position sense device.

In embodiments, the wearer may have a plurality of position sensedevices mounted on their body. For instance, and in continuation of thepreceding example, the wearer may have position sense devices mounted ona plurality of points on the hand, such as with individual sensors ondifferent fingers, or as a collection of devices, such as in a glove. Inthis way, the aggregate sense command information from the collection ofsensors at different locations on the hand may be used to provide morecomplex command information. For instance, the wearer may use a sensordevice glove to play a game, where the glove senses the grasp and motionof the user's hands on a ball, bat, racket, and the like, in the use ofthe present disclosure in the simulation and play of a simulated game.In embodiments, the plurality of position sense devices may be mountedon different parts of the body, allowing the wearer to transmit complexmotions of the body to the eyepiece for use by an application.

In embodiments, the sense device may have a force sensor, such as fordetecting when the sense device comes in contact with an object. Forinstance, a sense device may include a force sensor at the tip of awearer's finger. In this case, the wearer may tap, multiple tap,sequence taps, swipe, touch, and the like to generate a command to theeyepiece. Force sensors may also be used to indicate degrees of touch,grip, push, and the like, where predetermined or learned thresholdsdetermine different command information. In this way, commands may bedelivered as a series of continuous commands that constantly update thecommand information being used in an application through the eyepiece.In an example, a wearer may be running a simulation, such as a gameapplication, military application, commercial application, and the like,where the movements and contact with objects, such as through at leastone of a plurality of sense devices, are fed to the eyepiece as commandsthat influence the simulation displayed through the eyepiece.

In embodiments, the sense device may include an optical sensor oroptical transmitter as a way for movement to be interpreted as acommand. For instance, a sense device may include an optical sensormounted on the hand of the wearer, and the eyepiece housing may includean optical transmitter, such that when a user moves their hand past theoptical transmitter on the eyepiece, the motions may be interpreted ascommands. A motion detected through an optical sensor may includeswiping past at different speeds, with repeated motions, combinations ofdwelling and movement, and the like. In embodiments, optical sensorsand/or transmitters may be located on the eyepiece, mounted on thewearer (e.g. on the hand, foot, in a glove, piece of clothing), or usedin combinations between different areas on the wearer and the eyepiece,and the like.

In one embodiment, a number of sensors useful for monitoring thecondition of the wearer or a person in proximity to the wearer aremounted within the augmented reality glasses. Sensors have become muchsmaller, thanks to advances in electronics technology. Signaltransducing and signal processing technologies have also made greatprogress in the direction of size reduction and digitization.Accordingly, it is possible to have not merely a temperature sensor inthe AR glasses, but an entire sensor array. These sensors may include,as noted, a temperature sensor, and also sensor to detect: pulse rate;beat-to-beat heart variability; EKG or ECG; respiration rate; core bodytemperature; heat flow from the body; galvanic skin response or GSR;EMG; EEG; EOG; blood pressure; body fat; hydration level; activitylevel; oxygen consumption; glucose or blood sugar level; body position;and UV radiation exposure or absorption. In addition, there may also bea retinal sensor and a blood oxygenation sensor (such as an Sp0₂sensor), among others. Such sensors are available from a variety ofmanufacturers, including Vermed, Bellows Falls, Vt., USA; VTI, Ventaa,Finland; and ServoFlow, Lexington, Mass., USA.

In some embodiments, it may be more useful to have sensors mounted onthe person or on equipment of the person, rather than on the glassesthemselves. For example, accelerometers, motion sensors and vibrationsensors may be usefully mounted on the person, on clothing of theperson, or on equipment worn by the person. These sensors may maintaincontinuous or periodic contact with the controller of the AR glassesthrough a Bluetooth® radio transmitter or other radio device adhering toIEEE 802.11 specifications. For example, if a physician wishes tomonitor motion or shock experienced by a patient during a foot race, thesensors may be more useful if they are mounted directly on the person'sskin, or even on a T-shirt worn by the person, rather than mounted onthe glasses. In these cases, a more accurate reading may be obtained bya sensor placed on the person or on the clothing rather than on theglasses. Such sensors need not be as tiny as the sensors which would besuitable for mounting on the glasses themselves, and be more useful, asseen.

The AR glasses or goggles may also include environmental sensors orsensor arrays. These sensors are mounted on the glasses and sample theatmosphere or air in the vicinity of the wearer. These sensors or sensorarray may be sensitive to certain substances or concentrations ofsubstances. For example, sensors and arrays are available to measureconcentrations of carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen (“NO_(x)”),temperature, relative humidity, noise level, volatile organic chemicals(VOC), ozone, particulates, hydrogen sulfide, barometric pressure andultraviolet light and its intensity. Vendors and manufacturers include:Sensares, Crolles, FR; Cairpol, Ales, FR; Critical EnvironmentalTechnologies of Canada, Delta, B.C., Canada; Apollo Electronics Co.,Shenzhen, China; and AV Technology Ltd., Stockport, Cheshire, UK. Manyother sensors are well known. If such sensors are mounted on the personor on clothing or equipment of the person, they may also be useful.These environmental sensors may include radiation sensors, chemicalsensors, poisonous gas sensors, and the like.

In one embodiment, environmental sensors, health monitoring sensors, orboth, are mounted on the frames of the augmented reality glasses. Inanother embodiment, the sensors may be mounted on the person or onclothing or equipment of the person. For example, a sensor for measuringelectrical activity of a heart of the wearer may be implanted, withsuitable accessories for transducing and transmitting a signalindicative of the person's heart activity.

The signal may be transmitted a very short distance via a Bluetooth®radio transmitter or other radio device adhering to IEEE 802.15.1specifications. Other frequencies or protocols may be used instead. Thesignal may then be processed by the signal-monitoring and processingequipment of the augmented reality glasses, and recorded and displayedon the virtual screen available to the wearer. In another embodiment,the signal may also be sent via the AR glasses to a friend or squadleader of the wearer. Thus, the health and well-being of the person maybe monitored by the person and by others, and may also be tracked overtime.

In another embodiment, environmental sensors may be mounted on theperson or on equipment of the person. For example, radiation or chemicalsensors may be more useful if worn on outer clothing or a web-belt ofthe person, rather than mounted directly on the glasses. As noted above,signals from the sensors may be monitored locally by the person throughthe AR glasses. The sensor readings may also be transmitted elsewhere,either on demand or automatically, perhaps at set intervals, such asevery quarter-hour or half-hour. Thus, a history of sensor readings,whether of the person's body readings or of the environment, may be madefor tracking or trending purposes.

In an embodiment, an RF/micropower impulse radio (MIR) sensor may beassociated with the eyepiece and serve as a short-range medical radar.The sensor may operate on an ultra-wide band. The sensor may include anRF/impulse generator, receiver, and signal processor, and may be usefulfor detecting and measuring cardiac signals by measuring ion flow incardiac cells within 3 mm of the skin. The receiver may be a phasedarray antenna to enable determining a location of the signal in a regionof space. The sensor may be used to detect and identify cardiac signalsthrough blockages, such as walls, water, concrete, dirt, metal, wood,and the like. For example, a user may be able to use the sensor todetermine how many people are located in a concrete structure by howmany heart rates are detected. In another embodiment, a detected heartrate may serve as a unique identifier for a person so that they may berecognized in the future. In an embodiment, the RF/impulse generator maybe embedded in one device, such as the eyepiece or some other device,while the receiver is embedded in a different device, such as anothereyepiece or device. In this way, a virtual “tripwire” may be createdwhen a heart rate is detected between the transmitter and receiver. Inan embodiment, the sensor may be used as an in-field diagnostic orself-diagnosis tool. EKG's may be analyzed and stored for future use asa biometric identifier. A user may receive alerts of sensed heart ratesignals and how many heart rates are present as displayed content in theeyepiece.

FIG. 29 depicts an embodiment of an augmented reality eyepiece orglasses with a variety of sensors and communication equipment. One ormore than one environmental or health sensors are connected to a sensorinterface locally or remotely through a short range radio circuit and anantenna, as shown. The sensor interface circuit includes all devices fordetecting, amplifying, processing and sending on or transmitting thesignals detected by the sensor(s). The remote sensors may include, forexample, an implanted heart rate monitor or other body sensor (notshown). The other sensors may include an accelerometer, an inclinometer,a temperature sensor, a sensor suitable for detecting one or morechemicals or gasses, or any of the other health or environmental sensorsdiscussed in this disclosure. The sensor interface is connected to themicroprocessor or microcontroller of the augmented reality device, fromwhich point the information gathered may be recorded in memory, such asrandom access memory (RAM) or permanent memory, read only memory (ROM),as shown.

In an embodiment, a sense device enables simultaneous electric fieldsensing through the eyepiece. Electric field (EF) sensing is a method ofproximity sensing that allows computers to detect, evaluate and workwith objects in their vicinity. Physical contact with the skin, such asa handshake with another person or some other physical contact with aconductive or a non-conductive device or object, may be sensed as achange in an electric field and either enable data transfer to or fromthe eyepiece or terminate data transfer. For example, videos captured bythe eyepiece may be stored on the eyepiece until a wearer of theeyepiece with an embedded electric field sensing transceiver touches anobject and initiates data transfer from the eyepiece to a receiver. Thetransceiver may include a transmitter that includes a transmittercircuit that induces electric fields toward the body and a data sensecircuit, which distinguishes transmitting and receiving modes bydetecting both transmission and reception data and outputs controlsignals corresponding to the two modes to enable two-way communication.An instantaneous private network between two people may be generatedwith a contact, such as a handshake. Data may be transferred between aneyepiece of a user and a data receiver or eyepiece of the second user.Additional security measures may be used to enhance the private network,such as facial or audio recognition, detection of eye contact,fingerprint detection, biometric entry, and the like.

In embodiments, there may be an authentication facility associated withaccessing functionality of the eyepiece, such as access to displayed orprojected content, access to restricted projected content, enablingfunctionality of the eyepiece itself (e.g. as through a login to accessfunctionality of the eyepiece) either in whole or in part, and the like.Authentication may be provided through recognition of the wearer'svoice, iris, retina, fingerprint, and the like, or other biometricidentifier. The authentication system may provide for a database ofbiometric inputs for a plurality of users such that access control maybe provided for use of the eyepiece based on policies and associatedaccess privileges for each of the users entered into the database. Theeyepiece may provide for an authentication process. For instance, theauthentication facility may sense when a user has taken the eyepieceoff, and require re-authentication when the user puts it back on. Thisbetter ensures that the eyepiece only provides access to those usersthat are authorized, and for only those privileges that the wearer isauthorized for. In an example, the authentication facility may be ableto detect the presence of a user's eye or head as the eyepiece is puton. In a first level of access, the user may only be able to accesslow-sensitivity items until authentication is complete. Duringauthentication, the authentication facility may identify the user, andlook up their access privileges. Once these privileges have beendetermined, the authentication facility may then provide the appropriateaccess to the user. In the case of an unauthorized user being detected,the eyepiece may maintain access to low-sensitivity items, furtherrestrict access, deny access entirely, and the like.

In an embodiment, a receiver may be associated with an object to enablecontrol of that object via touch by a wearer of the eyepiece, whereintouch enables transmission or execution of a command signal in theobject. For example, a receiver may be associated with a car door lock.When a wearer of the eyepiece touches the car, the car door may unlock.In another example, a receiver may be embedded in a medicine bottle.When the wearer of the eyepiece touches the medicine bottle, an alarmsignal may be initiated. In another example, a receiver may beassociated with a wall along a sidewalk. As the wearer of the eyepiecepasses the wall or touches the wall, advertising may be launched eitherin the eyepiece or on a video panel of the wall.

In an embodiment, when a wearer of the eyepiece initiates a physicalcontact, a WiFi exchange of information with a receiver may provide anindication that the wearer is connected to an online activity such as agame or may provide verification of identity in an online environment.In the embodiment, a representation of the person could change color orundergo some other visual indication in response to the contact. Inembodiments, the eyepiece may include tactile interface as in FIG. 14,such as to enable haptic control of the eyepiece, such as with a swipe,tap, touch, press, click, roll of a rollerball, and the like. Forinstance, the tactile interface 1402 may be mounted on the frame of theeyepiece, such as on an arm, both arms, the nosepiece, the top of theframe, the bottom of the frame, and the like. The wearer may then touchthe tactile interface in a plurality of ways to be interpreted by theeyepiece as commands, such as by tapping one or multiple times on theinterface, by brushing a finger across the interface, by pressing andholding, by pressing more than one interface at a time, and the like. Inembodiments, the tactile interface may be attached to the wearer's body,their clothing, as an attachment to their clothing, as a ring 1500, as abracelet, as a necklace, and the like. For example, the interface may beattached on the body, such as on the back of the wrist, where touchingdifferent parts of the interface provides different command information(e.g. touching the front portion, the back portion, the center, holdingfor a period of time, tapping, swiping, and the like). In anotherexample, the wearer may have an interface mounted in a ring as shown inFIG. 15, a hand piece, and the like, where the interface may have atleast one of a plurality of command interface types, such as a tactileinterface, a position sensor device, and the like with wireless commandconnection to the eyepiece. In an embodiment, the ring 1500 may havecontrols that mirror a computer mouse, such as buttons 1504 (e.g.functioning as a one-button, multi-button, and like mouse functions), a2D position control 1502, scroll wheel, and the like. The buttons 1504and 2D position control 1502 may be as shown in FIG. 15, where thebuttons are on the side facing the thumb and the 2D position controlleris on the top. Alternately, the buttons and 2D position control may bein other configurations, such as all facing the thumb side, all on thetop surface, or any other combination. The 2D position control 1502 maybe a 2D button position controller (e.g. such as the TrackPoint pointingdevice embedded in some laptop keyboards to control the position of themouse), a pointing stick, joystick, an optical track pad, an opto touchwheel, a touch screen, touch pad, track pad, scrolling track pad,trackball, any other position or pointing controller, and the like. Inembodiments, control signals from the tactile interface (such as thering tactile interface 1500) may be provided with a wired or wirelessinterface to the eyepiece, where the user is able to conveniently supplycontrol inputs, such as with their hand, thumb, finger, and the like.For example, the user may be able to articulate the controls with theirthumb, where the ring is worn on the user's index finger. Inembodiments, a method or system may provide an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, a processor for handling content for display to theuser, and an integrated projector facility for projecting the content tothe optical assembly, and a control device worn on a hand of the user,including at least one control component actuated by a digit of a handof the user, and providing a control command from the actuation of theat least one control component to the processor as a commandinstruction. The command instruction may be directed to the manipulationof content for display to the user. The control device may be worn on afirst digit of the hand of the user, and the at least one controlcomponent may be actuated by a second digit of a hand of the user. Thefirst digit may be the index finger, the second digit the thumb, and thefirst and second digit on the same hand of the user. The control devicemay have at least one control component mounted on the index finger sidefacing the thumb. The at least one control component may be a button.The at least one control component may be a 2D position controller. Thecontrol device may have at least one button actuated control componentmounted on the index finger side facing the thumb, and a 2D positioncontroller actuated control component mounted on the top facing side ofthe index finger. The control components may be mounted on at least twodigits of the user's hand. The control device may be worn as a glove onthe hand of the user. The control device may be worn on the wrist of theuser. The at least one control component may be worn on at least onedigit of the hand, and a transmission facility may be worn separately onthe hand. The transmission facility may be worn on the wrist. Thetransmission facility may be worn on the back of the hand. The controlcomponent may be at least one of a plurality of buttons. The at leastone button may provide a function substantially similar to aconventional computer mouse button. Two of the plurality of buttons mayfunction substantially similar to primary buttons of a conventionaltwo-button computer mouse. The control component may be a scrollingwheel. The control component may be a 2D position control component. The2D position control component may be a button position controller,pointing stick, joystick, optical track pad, opto-touch wheel, touchscreen, touch pad, track pad, scrolling track pad, trackball, capacitivetouch screen, and the like. The 2D position control component may becontrolled with the user's thumb. The control component may be atouch-screen capable of implementing touch controls includingbutton-like functions and 2D manipulation functions. The controlcomponent may be actuated when the user puts on the projected processorcontent pointing and control device. A surface-sensing component in thecontrol device for detecting motion across a surface may also beprovided. The surface sensing component may be disposed on the palmarside of the user's hand. The surface may be at least one of a hardsurface, a soft surface, surface of the user's skin, surface of theuser's clothing, and the like. Providing control commands may betransmitted wirelessly, through a wired connection, and the like. Thecontrol device may control a pointing function associated with thedisplayed processor content. The pointing function may be control of acursor position; selection of displayed content, selecting and movingdisplayed content; control of zoom, pan, field of view, size, positionof displayed content; and the like. The control device may control apointing function associated with the viewed surrounding environment.The pointing function may be placing a cursor on a viewed object in thesurrounding environment. The viewed object's location position may bedetermined by the processor in association with a camera integrated withthe eyepiece. The viewed object's identification may be determined bythe processor in association with a camera integrated with the eyepiece.The control device may control a function of the eyepiece. The functionmay be associated with the displayed content. The function may be a modecontrol of the eyepiece. The control device may be foldable for ease ofstorage when not worn by the user. In embodiments, the control devicemay be used with external devices, such as to control the externaldevice in association with the eyepiece. External devices may beentertainment equipment, audio equipment, portable electronic devices,navigation devices, weapons, automotive controls, and the like.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly; and a tactile control interface mounted on the eyepiece thataccepts control inputs from the user through at least one of a usertouching the interface and the user being proximate to the interface.

In embodiments, control of the eyepiece, and especially control of acursor associated with displayed content to the user, may be enabledthrough hand control, such as with a worn device 1500 as in FIG. 15, asa virtual computer mouse 1500A as in FIG. 15A, and the like. Forinstance, the worn device 1500 may transmit commands through physicalinterfaces (e.g. a button 1502, scroll wheel 1504), and the virtualcomputer mouse 1500A may be able interpret commands though detectingmotion and actions of the user's thumb, fist, hand, and the like. Incomputing, a physical mouse is a pointing device that functions bydetecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Aphysical mouse traditionally consists of an object held under one of theuser's hands, with one or more buttons. It sometimes features otherelements, such as “wheels”, which allow the user to perform varioussystem-dependent operations, or extra buttons or features that can addmore control or dimensional input. The mouse's motion translates intothe motion of a cursor on a display, which allows for fine control of agraphical user interface. In the case of the eyepiece, the user may beable to utilize a physical mouse, a virtual mouse, or combinations ofthe two. In embodiments, a virtual mouse may involve one or more sensorsattached to the user's hand, such as on the thumb 1502A, finger 1504A,palm 1508A, wrist 1510A, and the like, where the eyepiece receivessignals from the sensors and translates the received signals into motionof a cursor on the eyepiece display to the user. In embodiments, thesignals may be received through an exterior interface, such as thetactile interface 1402, through a receiver on the interior of theeyepiece, at a secondary communications interface, on an associatedphysical mouse or worn interface, and the like. The virtual mouse mayalso include actuators or other output type elements attached to theuser's hand, such as for haptic feedback to the user through vibration,force, electrical impulse, temperature, and the like. Sensors andactuators may be attached to the user's hand by way of a wrap, ring,pad, glove, and the like. As such, the eyepiece virtual mouse may allowthe user to translate motions of the hand into motion of the cursor onthe eyepiece display, where ‘motions’ may include slow movements, rapidmotions, jerky motions, position, change in position, and the like, andmay allow users to work in three dimensions, without the need for aphysical surface, and including some or all of the six degrees offreedom. Note that because the ‘virtual mouse’ may be associated withmultiple portions of the hand, the virtual mouse may be implemented asmultiple ‘virtual mouse’ controllers, or as a distributed controlleracross multiple control members of the hand. In embodiments, theeyepiece may provide for the use of a plurality of virtual mice, such asfor one on each of the user's hands, one or more of the user's feet, andthe like.

In embodiments, the eyepiece virtual mouse may need no physical surfaceto operate, and detect motion such as through sensors, such as one of aplurality of accelerometer types (e.g. tuning fork, piezoelectric, shearmode, strain mode, capacitive, thermal, resistive, electromechanical,resonant, magnetic, optical, acoustic, laser, three dimensional, and thelike), and through the output signals of the sensor(s) determine thetranslational and angular displacement of the hand, or some portion ofthe hand. For instance, accelerometers may produce output signals ofmagnitudes proportional to the translational acceleration of the hand inthe three directions. Pairs of accelerometers may be configured todetect rotational accelerations of the hand or portions of the hand.Translational velocity and displacement of the hand or portions of thehand may be determined by integrating the accelerometer output signalsand the rotational velocity and displacement of the hand may bedetermined by integrating the difference between the output signals ofthe accelerometer pairs. Alternatively, other sensors may be utilized,such as ultrasound sensors, imagers, IR/RF, magnetometer, gyromagnetometer, and the like. As accelerometers, or other sensors, may bemounted on various portions of the hand, the eyepiece may be able todetect a plurality of movements of the hand, ranging from simple motionsnormally associated with computer mouse motion, to more highly complexmotion, such as interpretation of complex hand motions in a simulationapplication. In embodiments, the user may require only a smalltranslational or rotational action to have these actions translated tomotions associated with user intended actions on the eyepiece projectionto the user.

In embodiments, the virtual mouse may have physical switches associatedwith it to control the device, such as an on/off switch mounted on thehand, the eyepiece, or other part of the body. The virtual mouse mayalso have on/off control and the like through pre-defined motions oractions of the hand. For example, the operation of the virtual mouse maybe enabled through a rapid back and forth motion of the hand. In anotherexample, the virtual mouse may be disabled through a motion of the handpast the eyepiece, such as in front of the eyepiece. In embodiments, thevirtual mouse for the eyepiece may provide for the interpretation of aplurality of motions to operations normally associated with physicalmouse control, and as such, familiar to the user without training, suchas single clicking with a finger, double clicking, triple clicking,right clicking, left clicking, click and drag, combination clicking,roller wheel motion, and the like. In embodiments, the eyepiece mayprovide for gesture recognition, such as in interpreting hand gesturesvia mathematical algorithms.

In embodiments, gesture control recognition may be provided throughtechnologies that utilize capacitive changes resulting from changes inthe distance of a user's hand from a conductor element as part of theeyepiece's control system, and so would require no devices mounted onthe user's hand. In embodiments, the conductor may be mounted as part ofthe eyepiece, such as on the arm or other portion of the frame, or assome external interface mounted on the user's body or clothing. Forexample, the conductor may be an antenna, where the control systembehaves in a similar fashion to the touch-less musical instrument knownas the theremin. The theremin uses the heterodyne principle to generatean audio signal, but in the case of the eyepiece, the signal may be usedto generate a control input signal. The control circuitry may include anumber of radio frequency oscillators, such as where one oscillatoroperates at a fixed frequency and another controlled by the user's hand,where the distance from the hand varies the input at the controlantenna. In this technology, the user's hand acts as a grounded plate(the user's body being the connection to ground) of a variable capacitorin an L-C (inductance-capacitance) circuit, which is part of theoscillator and determines its frequency. In another example, the circuitmay use a single oscillator, two pairs of heterodyne oscillators, andthe like. In embodiments, there may be a plurality of differentconductors used as control inputs. In embodiments, this type of controlinterface may be ideal for control inputs that vary across a range, suchas a volume control, a zoom control, and the like. However, this type ofcontrol interface may also be used for more discrete control signals(e.g. on/off control) where a predetermined threshold determines thestate change of the control input.

In embodiments, the eyepiece may interface with a physical remotecontrol device, such as a wireless track pad mouse, hand held remotecontrol, body mounted remote control, remote control mounted on theeyepiece, and the like. The remote control device may be mounted on anexternal piece of equipment, such as for personal use, gaming,professional use, military use, and the like. For example, the remotecontrol may be mounted on a rifle for a sport rifle shooter, such asmounted on a pistol grip, on a muzzle shroud, on a fore grip, and thelike, providing remote control to the shooter without the need to removetheir hands from the rifle. The remote control may be removably mountedto the eyepiece.

In embodiments, a remote control for the eyepiece may be activatedand/or controlled through a proximity sensor. A proximity sensor may bea sensor able to detect the presence of nearby objects without anyphysical contact. For example, a proximity sensor may emit anelectromagnetic or electrostatic field, or a beam of electromagneticradiation (infrared, for instance), and look for changes in the field orreturn signal. The object being sensed is often referred to as theproximity sensor's target. Different proximity sensor targets may demanddifferent sensors. For example, a capacitive or photoelectric sensormight be suitable for a plastic target; an inductive proximity sensorrequires a metal target. Other examples of proximity sensor technologiesinclude capacitive displacement sensors, eddy-current, magnetic,photocell (reflective), laser, passive thermal infrared, passiveoptical, CCD, reflection of ionizing radiation, and the like. Inembodiments, the proximity sensor may be integral to any of the controlembodiments described herein, including physical remote controls,virtual mouse, interfaces mounted on the eyepiece, controls mounted onan external piece of equipment (e.g. a game controller), and the like.

In embodiments, control of the eyepiece, and especially control of acursor associated with displayed content to the user, may be enabledthrough the sensing of the motion of a facial feature, the tensing of afacial muscle, the clicking of the teeth, the motion of the jaw, and thelike, of the user wearing the eyepiece through a facial actuation sensor1502B. For instance, as shown in FIG. 15B, the eyepiece may have afacial actuation sensor as an extension from the eyepiece earphoneassembly 1504B, from the arm 1508B of the eyepiece, and the like, wherethe facial actuation sensor may sense a force, a vibration, and the likeassociated with the motion of a facial feature. The facial actuationsensor may also be mounted separate from the eyepiece assembly, such aspart of a standalone earpiece, where the sensor output of the earpieceand the facial actuation sensor may be either transferred to theeyepiece by either wired or wireless communication (e.g. Bluetooth orother communications protocol known to the art). The facial actuationsensor may also be attached to around the ear, in the mouth, on theface, on the neck, and the like. The facial actuation sensor may also becomprised of a plurality of sensors, such as to optimize the sensedmotion of different facial or interior motions or actions. Inembodiments, the facial actuation sensor may detect motions andinterpret them as commands, or the raw signals may be sent to theeyepiece for interpretation. Commands may be commands for the control ofeyepiece functions, controls associated with a cursor or pointer asprovided as part of the display of content to the user, and the like.For example, a user may click their teeth once or twice to indicate asingle or double click, such as normally associated with the click of acomputer mouse. In another example, the user may tense a facial muscleto indicate a command, such as a selection associated with the projectedimage. In embodiments, the facial actuation sensor may utilize noisereduction processing to minimize the background motions of the face, thehead, and the like, such as through adaptive signal processingtechnologies. A voice activity sensor may also be utilized to reduceinterference, such as from the user, from other individuals nearby, fromsurrounding environmental noise, and the like. In an example, the facialactuation sensor may also improve communications and eliminate noise bydetecting vibrations in the cheek of the user during speech, such aswith multiple microphones to identify the background noise and eliminateit through noise cancellation, volume augmentation, and the like.

In embodiments, the user of the eyepiece may be able to obtaininformation on some environmental feature, location, object, and thelike, viewed through the eyepiece by raising their hand into the fieldof view of the eyepiece and pointing at the object or position. Forinstance, the pointing finger of the user may indicate an environmentalfeature, where the finger is not only in the view of the eyepiece butalso in the view of an embedded camera. The system may now be able tocorrelate the position of the pointing finger with the location of theenvironmental feature as seen by the camera. Additionally, the eyepiecemay have position and orientation sensors, such as GPS and amagnetometer, to allow the system to know the location and line of sightof the user. From this, the system may be able to extrapolate theposition information of the environmental feature, such as to providethe location information to the user, to overlay the position of theenvironmental information onto a 2D or 3D map, to further associate theestablished position information to correlate that position informationto secondary information about that location (e.g. address, names ofindividuals at the address, name of a business at that location,coordinates of the location), and the like. Referring to FIG. 15C, in anexample, the user is looking though the eyepiece 1502C and pointing withtheir hand 1504C at a house 1508C in their field of view, where anembedded camera 1510C has both the pointed hand 1504C and the house1508C in its field of view. In this instance, the system is able todetermine the location of the house 1508C and provide locationinformation 1514C and a 3D map superimposed onto the user's view of theenvironment. In embodiments, the information associated with anenvironmental feature may be provided by an external facility, such ascommunicated with through a wireless communication connection, storedinternal to the eyepiece, such as downloaded to the eyepiece for thecurrent location, and the like.

In embodiments, the user may be able to control their view perspectiverelative to a 3D projected image, such as a 3D projected imageassociated with the external environment, a 3D projected image that hasbeen stored and retrieved, a 3D displayed movie (such as downloaded forviewing), and the like. For instance, and referring again to FIG. 15C,the user may be able to change the view perspective of the 3D displayedimage 1512C, such as by turning their head, and where the live externalenvironment and the 3D displayed image stay together even as the userturns their head, moves their position, and the like. In this way, theeyepiece may be able to provide an augmented reality by overlayinginformation onto the user's viewed external environment, such as theoverlaid 3D displayed map 1512C, the location information 1514C, and thelike, where the displayed map, information, and the like, may change asthe user's view changes. In another instance, with 3D movies or 3Dconverted movies, the perspective of the viewer may be changed to putthe viewer ‘into’ the movie environment with some control of the viewingperspective, where the user may be able to move their head around andhave the view change in correspondence to the changed head position,where the user may be able to ‘walk into’ the image when they physicallywalk forward, have the perspective change as the user moves the gazingview of their eyes, and the like. In addition, additional imageinformation may be provided, such as at the sides of the user's viewthat could be accessed by turning the head.

Referring to FIG. 15D, in embodiments the user of the eyepiece 1502D maybe able to use multiple hand/finger points from of their hand 1504D todefine the field of view (FOV) 1508D of the camera 1510D relative to thesee-thru view, such as for augmented reality applications. For instance,in the example shown, the user is utilizing their first finger and thumbto adjust the FOV 1508D of the camera 1510D of the eyepiece 1502D. Theuser may utilize other combinations to adjust the FOV 1508D, such aswith combinations of fingers, fingers and thumb, combinations of fingersand thumbs from both hands, use of the palm(s), cupped hand(s), and thelike. The use of multiple hand/finger points may enable the user toalter the FOV 1508 of the camera 1510D in much the same way as users oftouch screens, where different points of the hand/finger establishpoints of the FOV to establish the desired view. In this instancehowever, there is no physical contact made between the user's hand(s)and the eyepiece. Here, the camera may be commanded to associateportions of the user's hand(s) to the establishing or changing of theFOV of the camera. The command may be any command type described herein,including and not limited to hand motions in the FOV of the camera,commands associated with physical interfaces on the eyepiece, commandsassociated with sensed motions near the eyepiece, commands received froma command interface on some portion of the user, and the like. Theeyepiece may be able to recognize the finger/hand motions as thecommand, such as in some repetitive motion. In embodiments, the user mayalso utilize this technique to adjust some portion of the projectedimage, where the eyepiece relates the viewed image by the camera to someaspect of the projected image, such as the hand/finger points in view tothe projected image of the user. For example, the user may besimultaneously viewing the external environment and a projected image,and the user utilizes this technique to change the projected viewingarea, region, magnification, and the like. In embodiments, the user mayperform a change of FOV for a plurality of reasons, including zooming inor out from a viewed scene in the live environment, zoom in or out froma viewed portion of the projected image, to change the viewing areaallocated to the projected image, to change the perspective view of theenvironment or projected image, and the like.

In embodiments the eyepiece may be able to determine where the user isgazing, or the motion of the user's eye, by tracking the eye throughreflected light off the user's eye. This information may then be used tohelp correlate the user's line of sight with respect to the projectedimage, a camera view, the external environment, and the like, and usedin control techniques as described herein. For instance, the user maygaze at a location on the projected image and make a selection, such aswith an external remote control or with some detected eye movement (e.g.blinking). In an example of this technique, and referring to FIG. 15E,transmitted light 1508E, such as infrared light, may be reflected 1510Efrom the eye 1504E and sensed at the optical display 502 (e.g. with acamera or other optical sensor). The information may then be analyzed toextract eye rotation from changes in reflections. In embodiments, an eyetracking facility may use the corneal reflection and the center of thepupil as features to track over time; use reflections from the front ofthe cornea and the back of the lens as features to track; image featuresfrom inside the eye, such as the retinal blood vessels, and follow thesefeatures as the eye rotates; and the like. Alternatively, the eyepiecemay use other techniques to track the motions of the eye, such as withcomponents surrounding the eye, mounted in contact lenses on the eye,and the like. For instance, a special contact lens may be provided tothe user with an embedded optical component, such as a mirror, magneticfield sensor, and the like, for measuring the motion of the eye. Inanother instance, electric potentials may be measured and monitored withelectrodes placed around the eyes, utilizing the steady electricpotential field from the eye as a dipole, such as with its positive poleat the cornea and its negative pole at the retina. In this instance, theelectric signal may be derived using contact electrodes placed on theskin around the eye, on the frame of the eyepiece, and the like. If theeye moves from the centre position towards the periphery, the retinaapproaches one electrode while the cornea approaches the opposing one.This change in the orientation of the dipole and consequently theelectric potential field results in a change in the measured signal. Byanalyzing these changes. eye movement can be tracked.

In embodiments, the eyepiece may have a plurality of modes of operationwhere control of the eyepiece is controlled at least in part bypositions, shapes, motions of the hand, and the like. To provide thiscontrol the eyepiece may utilize hand recognition algorithms to detectthe shape of the hand/fingers, and to then associate those handconfigurations, possibly in combination with motions of the hand, ascommands. Realistically, as there may be only a limited number of handconfigurations and motions available to command the eyepiece, these handconfigurations may need to be reused depending upon the mode ofoperation of the eyepiece. In embodiments, certain hand configurationsor motions may be assigned for transitioning the eyepiece from one modeto the next, thereby allowing for the reuse of hand motions. Forinstance, and referring to FIG. 15F, the user's hand 1504F may be movedin view of a camera on the eyepiece, and the movement may then beinterpreted as a different command depending upon the mode, such as acircular motion 1508F, a motion across the field of view 1510F, a backand forth motion 1512F, and the like. In a simplistic example, supposethere are two modes of operation, mode one for panning a view from theprojected image and mode two for zooming the projected image. In thisexample the user may want to use a left-to-right finger-pointed handmotion to command a panning motion to the right. However, the user mayalso want to use a left-to-right finger-pointed hand motion to command azooming of the image to greater magnification. To allow the dual use ofthis hand motion for both command types, the eyepiece may be configuredto interpret the hand motion differently depending upon the mode theeyepiece is currently in, and where specific hand motions have beenassigned for mode transitions. For instance, a clockwise rotationalmotion may indicate a transition from pan to zoom mode, and acounter-clockwise rotational motion may indicate a transition from zoomto pan mode. This example is meant to be illustrative and not limitingin anyway, where one skilled in the art will recognize how this generaltechnique could be used to implement a variety of command/modestructures using the hand(s) and finger(s), such as hand-fingerconfigurations-motions, two-hand configuration-motions, and the like.

In embodiments, a system may comprise an interactive head-mountedeyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepiece includes an opticalassembly through which the user views a surrounding environment anddisplayed content, wherein the optical assembly comprises a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly; and an integrated camera facility that images a gesture,wherein the integrated processor identifies and interprets the gestureas a command instruction. The control instruction may providemanipulation of the content for display, a command communicated to anexternal device, and the like.

In embodiments, control of the eyepiece may be enabled through eyemovement, an action of the eye, and the like. For instance, there may bea camera on the eyepiece that views back to the wearer's eye(s), whereeye movements or actions may be interpreted as command information, suchas through blinking, repetitive blinking, blink count, blink rate, eyeopen-closed, gaze tracking, eye movements to the side, up and down, sideto side, through a sequence of positions, to a specific position, dwelltime in a position, gazing toward a fixed object (e.g. the corner of thelens of the eyepiece), through a certain portion of the lens, at areal-world object, and the like. In addition, eye control may enable theviewer to focus on a certain point on the displayed image from theeyepiece, and because the camera may be able to correlate the viewingdirection of the eye to a point on the display, the eyepiece may be ableto interpret commands though a combination of where the wearer islooking and an action by the wearer (e.g. blinking, touching aninterface device, movement of a position sense device, and the like).For example, the viewer may be able to look at an object on the display,and select that object through the motion of a finger enabled through aposition sense device.

In some embodiments, the glasses may be equipped with eye trackingdevices for tracking movement of the user's eye, or preferably botheyes; alternatively, the glasses may be equipped with sensors forsix-degree freedom of movement tracking, i.e., head movement trackingThese devices or sensors are available, for example, from Chronos VisionGmbH, Berlin, Germany and ISCAN, Woburn, Mass. Retinal scanners are alsoavailable for tracking eye movement. Retinal scanners may also bemounted in the augmented reality glasses and are available from avariety of companies, such as Tobii, Stockholm, Sweden, and SMI, Teltow,Germany, and ISCAN.

The augmented reality eyepiece also includes a user input interface, asshown, to allow a user to control the device. Inputs used to control thedevice may include any of the sensors discussed above, and may alsoinclude a trackpad, one or more function keys and any other suitablelocal or remote device. For example, an eye tracking device may be usedto control another device, such as a video game or external trackingdevice. As an example, an augmented reality eyepiece equipped with aneye tracking device, discussed elsewhere in this document, which allowsthe eyepiece to track the direction of the user's eye or preferably,eyes, and send the movements to the controller of the eyepiece. Themovements may then be transmitted to a control device for a video gamecontrolled by the control device, which may be within sight of the user.The movement of the user's eyes is then converted by suitable softwareto signals for controlling movement in the video game, such as quadrant(range) and azimuth (direction). Additional controls may be used inconjunction with eye tracking, such as with the user's trackpad orfunction keys.

In embodiments, control of the eyepiece may be enabled though gesturesby the wearer. For instance, the eyepiece may have a camera that viewsoutward (e.g. forward, to the side, down) and interprets gestures ormovements of the hand of the wearer as control signals. Hand signals mayinclude passing the hand past the camera, hand positions or signlanguage in front of the camera, pointing to a real-world object (suchas to activate augmentation of the object), and the like. Hand motionsmay also be used to manipulate objects displayed on the inside of thetranslucent lens, such as moving an object, rotating an object, deletingan object, opening-closing a screen or window in the image, and thelike. Although hand motions have been used in the preceding examples,any portion of the body or object held or worn by the wearer may also beutilized for gesture recognition by the eyepiece.

In embodiments, head motion control may be used to send commands to theeyepiece, where motion sensors such as accelerometers, gyros, or anyother sensor described herein, may be mounted on the wearer's head, onthe eyepiece, in a hat, in a helmet, and the like. Referring to FIG.14A, head motions may include quick motions of the head, such as jerkingthe head in a forward and/or backward motion 1412, in an up and/or downmotion 1410, in a side to side motion as a nod, dwelling in a position,such as to the side, moving and holding in position, and the like.Motion sensors may be integrated into the eyepiece, mounted on theuser's head or in a head covering (e.g. hat, helmet) by wired orwireless connection to the eyepiece, and the like. In embodiments, theuser may wear the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, where the eyepieceincludes an optical assembly through which the user views a surroundingenvironment and displayed content. The optical assembly may include acorrective element that corrects the user's view of the surroundingenvironment, an integrated processor for handling content for display tothe user, and an integrated image source for introducing the content tothe optical assembly. At least one of a plurality of head motion sensingcontrol devices may be integrated or in association with the eyepiecethat provide control commands to the processor as command instructionsbased upon sensing a predefined head motion characteristic. The headmotion characteristic may be a nod of the user's head such that the nodis an overt motion dissimilar from ordinary head motions. The overtmotion may be a jerking motion of the head. The control instructions mayprovide manipulation of the content for display, be communicated tocontrol an external device, and the like. Head motion control may beused in combination with other control mechanisms, such as using anothercontrol mechanism as discussed herein to activate a command and for thehead motion to execute it. For example, a wearer may want to move anobject to the right, and through eye control, as discussed herein,select the object and activate head motion control. Then, by tippingtheir head to the right, the object may be commanded to move to theright, and the command terminated through eye control.

In embodiments, the eyepiece may be controlled through audio, such asthrough a microphone. Audio signals may include speech recognition,voice recognition, sound recognition, sound detection, and the like.Audio may be detected though a microphone on the eyepiece, a throatmicrophone, a jaw bone microphone, a boom microphone, a headphone, earbud with microphone, and the like.

In embodiments, command inputs may provide for a plurality of controlfunctions, such as turning on/off the eyepiece projector, turn on/offaudio, turn on/off a camera, turn on/off augmented reality projection,turn on/off GPS, interaction with display (e.g. select/accept functiondisplayed, replay of captured image or video, and the like), interactionwith the real-world (e.g. capture image or video, turn a page of adisplayed book, and the like), perform actions with an embedded orexternal mobile device (e.g. mobile phone, navigation device, musicdevice, VoIP, and the like), browser controls for the Internet (e.g.submit, next result, and the like), email controls (e.g. read email,display text, text-to-speech, compose, select, and the like), GPS andnavigation controls (e.g. save position, recall saved position, showdirections, view location on map), and the like.

In embodiments, the eyepiece may provide 3D display imaging to the user,such as through conveying a stereoscopic, auto-stereoscopic,computer-generated holography, volumetric display image,stereograms/stereoscopes, view-sequential displays, electro-holographicdisplays, parallax “two view” displays and parallax panoramagrams,re-imaging systems, and the like, creating the perception of 3D depth tothe viewer. Display of 3D images to the user may employ different imagespresented to the user's left and right eyes, such as where the left andright optical paths have some optical component that differentiates theimage, where the projector facility is projecting different images tothe user's left and right eye's, and the like. The optical path,including from the projector facility through the optical path to theuser's eye, may include a graphical display device that forms a visualrepresentation of an object in three physical dimensions. A processor,such as the integrated processor in the eyepiece or one in an externalfacility, may provide 3D image processing as at least a step in thegeneration of the 3D image to the user.

In embodiments, holographic projection technologies may be employed inthe presentation of a 3D imaging effect to the user, such ascomputer-generated holography (CGH), a method of digitally generatingholographic interference patterns. For instance, a holographic image maybe projected by a holographic 3D display, such as a display thatoperates on the basis of interference of coherent light. Computergenerated holograms have the advantage that the objects which one wantsto show do not have to possess any physical reality at all, that is,they may be completely generated as a ‘synthetic hologram’. There are aplurality of different methods for calculating the interference patternfor a CGH, including from the fields of holographic information andcomputational reduction as well as in computational and quantizationtechniques. For instance, the Fourier transform method and point sourceholograms are two examples of computational techniques. The Fouriertransformation method may be used to simulate the propagation of eachplane of depth of the object to the hologram plane, where thereconstruction of the image may occur in the far field. In an exampleprocess, there may be two steps, where first the light field in the farobserver plane is calculated, and then the field is Fourier transformedback to the lens plane, where the wavefront to be reconstructed by thehologram is the superposition of the Fourier transforms of each objectplane in depth. In another example, a target image may be multiplied bya phase pattern to which an inverse Fourier transform is applied.Intermediate holograms may then be generated by shifting this imageproduct, and combined to create a final set. The final set of hologramsmay then be approximated to form kinoforms for sequential display to theuser, where the kinoform is a phase hologram in which the phasemodulation of the object wavefront is recorded as a surface-reliefprofile. In the point source hologram method the object is broken downin self-luminous points, where an elementary hologram is calculated forevery point source and the final hologram is synthesized bysuperimposing all the elementary holograms.

In an embodiment, 3-D or holographic imagery may be enabled by a dualprojector system where two projectors are stacked on top of each otherfor a 3D image output. Holographic projection mode may be entered by acontrol mechanism described herein or by capture of an image or signal,such as an outstretched hand with palm up, an SKU, an RFID reading, andthe like. For example, a wearer of the eyepiece may view a letter ‘X’ ona piece of cardboard which causes the eyepiece to enter holographic modeand turning on the second, stacked projector. Selecting what hologram todisplay may be done with a control technique. The projector may projectthe hologram onto the cardboard over the letter ‘X’. Associated softwaremay track the position of the letter ‘X’ and move the projected imagealong with the movement of the letter ‘X’. In another example, theeyepiece may scan a SKU, such as a SKU on a toy construction kit, and a3-D image of the completed toy construction may be accessed from anonline source or non-volatile memory. Interaction with the hologram,such as rotating it, zooming in/out, and the like, may be done using thecontrol mechanisms described herein. Scanning may be enabled byassociated bar code/SKU scanning software. In another example, akeyboard may be projected in space or on a surface. The holographickeyboard may be used in or to control any of the associatedapplications/functions.

In embodiments, eyepiece facilities may provide for locking the positionof a virtual keyboard down relative to a real environmental object (e.g.a table, a wall, a vehicle dashboard, and the like) where the virtualkeyboard then does not move as the wearer moves their head. In anexample, and referring to FIG. 24, the user may be sitting at a tableand wearing the eyepiece 2402, and wish to input text into anapplication, such as a word processing application, a web browser, acommunications application, and the like. The user may be able to bringup a virtual keyboard 2408, or other interactive control element (e.g.virtual mouse, calculator, touch screen, and the like), to use forinput. The user may provide a command for bringing up the virtualkeyboard 2408, and use a hand gesture 2404 for indicating the fixedlocation of the virtual keyboard 2408. The virtual keyboard 2408 maythen remain fixed in space relative to the outside environment, such asfixed to a location on the table 2410, where the eyepiece facilitieskeep the location of the virtual keyboard 2408 on the table 2410 evenwhen the user turns their head. That is, the eyepiece 2402 maycompensate for the user's head motion in order to keep the user's viewof the virtual keyboard 2408 located on the table 2410. In embodiments,the user may wear the interactive head-mounted eyepiece, where theeyepiece includes an optical assembly through which the user views asurrounding environment and displayed content. The optical assembly mayinclude a corrective element that corrects the user's view of thesurrounding environment, an integrated processor for handling contentfor display to the user, and an integrated image source for introducingthe content to the optical assembly. An integrated camera facility maybe provided that images the surrounding environment, and identifies auser hand gesture as an interactive control element location command,such as a hand-finger configuration moved in a certain way, positionedin a certain way, and the like. The location of the interactive controlelement then may remain fixed in position with respect to an object inthe surrounding environment, in response to the interactive controlelement location command, regardless of a change in the viewingdirection of the user. In this way, the user may be able to utilize avirtual keyboard in much the same way they would a physical keyboard,where the virtual keyboard remains in the same location. However, in thecase of the virtual keyboard there are not ‘physical limitations’, suchas gravity, to limit where the user may locate the keyboard. Forinstance, the user could be standing next to a wall, and place thekeyboard location on the wall, and the like.

In embodiments, eyepiece facilities may provide for removing theportions of a virtual keyboard projection where intervening obstructionsappear (e.g. the user's hand getting in the way, where it is not desiredto project the keyboard onto the user's hand). In an example, andreferring to FIG. 30, the eyepiece 6202 may provide a projected virtualkeyboard 6208 to the wearer, such as onto a tabletop. The wearer maythen reach ‘over’ the virtual keyboard 6208 to type. As the keyboard ismerely a projected virtual keyboard, rather than a physical keyboard,without some sort of compensation to the projected image the projectedvirtual computer would be projected ‘onto’ the back of the user's hand.However, as in this example, the eyepiece may provide compensation tothe projected image such that the portion of the wearer's hand 6204 thatis obstructing the intended projection of the virtual keyboard onto thetable may be removed from the projection. That is, it may not bedesirable for portions of the keyboard projection 6208 to be visualizedonto the user's hand, and so the eyepiece subtracts the portion of thevirtual keyboard projection that is co-located with the wearer's hand6204. In embodiments, the user may wear the interactive head-mountedeyepiece, where the eyepiece includes an optical assembly through whichthe user views a surrounding environment and displayed content. Theoptical assembly may include a corrective element that corrects theuser's view of the surrounding environment, an integrated processor forhandling content for display to the user, and an integrated image sourcefor introducing the content to the optical assembly. The displayedcontent may include an interactive control element (e.g. virtualkeyboard, virtual mouse, calculator, touch screen, and the like). Anintegrated camera facility may image a user's body part as it interactswith the interactive control element, wherein the processor removes aportion of the interactive control element by subtracting the portion ofthe interactive control element that is determined to be co-located withthe imaged user body part based on the user's view. In embodiments, thistechnique of partial projected image removal may be applied to otherprojected images and obstructions, and is not meant to be restricted tothis example of a hand over a virtual keyboard.

In embodiments, eyepiece facilities may provide for the ability todetermine an intended text input from a sequence of character contactsswiped across a virtual keypad, such as with the finger, a stylus, andthe like. For example, and referring to FIG. 37, the eyepiece may beprojecting a virtual keyboard 6302, where the user wishes to input theword ‘wind’. Normally, the user would discretely press the key positionsfor ‘w’, then ‘i’, then ‘n’, and finally ‘d’, and a facility (camera,accelerometer, and the like, such as described herein) associated withthe eyepiece would interpret each position as being the letter for thatposition. However, the system may also be able to monitor the movement,or swipe, of the user's finger or other pointing device across thevirtual keyboard and determine best fit matches for the pointermovement. In the figure, the pointer has started at the character ‘w’and swept a path 6304 though the characters e, r, t, y, u, i, k, n, b,v, f, and d where it stops. The eyepiece may observe this sequence anddetermine the sequence through an input path analyzer, feed the sensedsequence into a word matching search facility, and output a best fitword, in this case ‘wind’ as text 6308. In embodiments, the eyepiece mayprovide the best-fit word, a listing of best-fit words, and the like. Inembodiments, the user may wear the interactive head-mounted eyepiece,where the eyepiece includes an optical assembly through which the userviews a surrounding environment and displayed content. The opticalassembly may include a corrective element that corrects the user's viewof the surrounding environment, an integrated processor for handlingcontent for display to the user, and an integrated image source forintroducing the content to the optical assembly. The displayed contentmay comprise an interactive keyboard control element (e.g. a virtualkeyboard, calculator, touch screen, and the like), and where thekeyboard control element is associated with an input path analyzer, aword matching search facility, and a keyboard input interface. The usermay input text by sliding a pointing device (e.g. a finger, a stylus,and the like) across character keys of the keyboard input interface in asliding motion through an approximate sequence of a word the user wouldlike to input as text, wherein the input path analyzer determines thecharacters contacted in the input path, the word matching facility findsa best word match to the sequence of characters contacted and inputs thebest word match as input text.

In embodiments, eyepiece facilities may provide for presenting displayedcontent corresponding to an identified marker indicative of theintention to display the content. That is, the eyepiece may be commandedto display certain content based upon sensing a predetermined externalvisual cue. The visual cue may be an image, an icon, a picture, facerecognition, a hand configuration, a body configuration, and the like.The displayed content may be an interface device that is brought up foruse, a navigation aid to help the user find a location once they get tosome travel location, an advertisement when the eyepiece views a targetimage, an informational profile, and the like. In embodiments, visualmarker cues and their associated content for display may be stored inmemory on the eyepiece, in an external computer storage facility andimported as needed (such as by geographic location, proximity to atrigger target, command by the user, and the like), generated by athird-party, and the like. In embodiments, the user may wear theinteractive head-mounted eyepiece, where the eyepiece includes anoptical assembly through which the user views a surrounding environmentand displayed content. The optical assembly may include a correctiveelement that corrects the user's view of the surrounding environment, anintegrated processor for handling content for display to the user, andan integrated image source for introducing the content to the opticalassembly. An integrated camera facility may be provided that images anexternal visual cue, wherein the integrated processor identifies andinterprets the external visual cue as a command to display contentassociated with the visual cue. Referring to FIG. 38, in embodiments thevisual cue 6412 may be included in a sign 6414 in the surroundingenvironment, where the projected content is associated with anadvertisement. The sign may be a billboard, and the advertisement for apersonalized advertisement based on a preferences profile of the user.The visual cue 6402, 6410 may be a hand gesture, and the projectedcontent a projected virtual keyboard 6404, 6408. For instance, the handgesture may be a thumb and index finger gesture 6402 from a first userhand, and the virtual keyboard 6404 projected on the palm of the firstuser hand, and where the user is able to type on the virtual keyboardwith a second user hand. The hand gesture 6410 may be a thumb and indexfinger gesture combination of both user hands, and the virtual keyboard6408 projected between the user hands as configured in the hand gesture,where the user is able to type on the virtual keyboard using the thumbsof the user's hands. Visual cues may provide the wearer of the eyepiecewith an automated resource for associating a predetermined externalvisual cue with a desired outcome in the way of projected content, thusfreeing the wearer from searching for the cues themselves.

The eyepiece may be useful for various applications and markets. Itshould be understood that the control mechanisms described herein may beused to control the functions of the applications described herein. Theeyepiece may run a single application at a time or multiple applicationsmay run at a time. Switching between applications may be done with thecontrol mechanisms described herein. The eyepiece may be used inmilitary applications, gaming, image recognition applications, toview/order e-books, GPS Navigation (Position, Direction, Speed and ETA),Mobile TV, athletics (view pacing, ranking, and competition times;receive coaching), telemedicine, industrial inspection, aviation,shopping, inventory management tracking, firefighting (enabled byVIS/NIRSWIR sensor that sees through fog, haze, dark),outdoor/adventure, custom advertising, and the like. In an embodiment,the eyepiece may be used with e-mail, such as GMAIL in FIG. 7, theInternet, web browsing, viewing sports scores, video chat, and the like.In an embodiment, the eyepiece may be used for educational/trainingpurposes, such as by displaying step by step guides, such as hands-free,wireless maintenance and repair instructions. For example, a videomanual and/or instructions may be displayed in the field of view. In anembodiment, the eyepiece may be used in Fashion, Health, and Beauty. Forexample, potential outfits, hairstyles, or makeup may be projected ontoa mirror image of a user. In an embodiment, the eyepiece may be used inBusiness Intelligence, Meetings, and Conferences. For example, a user'sname tag can be scanned, their face run through a facial recognitionsystem, or their spoken name searched in database to obtain biographicalinformation. Scanned name tags, faces, and conversations may be recordedfor subsequent viewing or filing.

In an embodiment, a “Mode” may be entered by the eyepiece. In the mode,certain applications may be available. For example, a consumer versionof the eyepiece may have a Tourist Mode, Educational Mode, InternetMode, TV Mode, Gaming Mode, Exercise Mode, Stylist Mode, PersonalAssistant Mode, and the like.

A user of the augmented reality glasses may wish to participate in videocalling or video conferencing while wearing the glasses. Many computers,both desktop and laptop have integrated cameras to facilitate usingvideo calling and conferencing. Typically, software applications areused to integrate use of the camera with calling or conferencingfeatures. With the augmented reality glasses providing much of thefunctionality of laptops and other computing devices, many users maywish to utilize video calling and video conferencing while on the movewearing the augmented reality glasses.

In an embodiment, a video calling or video conferencing application maywork with a WiFi connection, or may be part of a 3G or 4G callingnetwork associated with a user's cell phone. The camera for videocalling or conferencing is placed on a device controller, such as awatch or other separate electronic computing device. Placing the videocalling or conferencing camera on the augmented reality glasses is notfeasible, as such placement would provide the user with a view only ofthemselves, and would not display the other participants in theconference or call. However, the user may choose to use theforward-facing camera to display their surroundings or anotherindividual in the video call.

FIG. 32 depicts a typical camera 3200 for use in video calling orconferencing. Such cameras are typically small and could be mounted on awatch 3202, as shown in FIG. 32, cell phone or other portable computingdevice, including a laptop computer. Video calling works by connectingthe device controller with the cell phone or other communicationsdevice. The devices utilize software compatible with the operatingsystem of the glasses and the communications device or computing device.In an embodiment, the screen of the augmented reality glasses maydisplay a list of options for making the call and the user may gestureusing a pointing control device or use any other control techniquedescribed herein to select the video calling option on the screen of theaugmented reality glasses.

FIG. 33 illustrates an embodiment of a block diagram of a video callingcamera. The camera incorporates a lens 3302, a CCD/CMOS sensor 3304,analog to digital converters for video signals, 3306, and audio signals,3314. Microphone 3312 collects audio input. Both analog to digitalconverters 3306 and 3314 send their output signals to a signalenhancement module 3308. The signal enhancement module 3308 forwards theenhanced signal, which is a composite of both video and audio signals tointerface 3310. Interface 3310 is connected to an IEEE 1394 standard businterface, along with a control module 3316.

In operation, the video call camera depends on the signal capture whichtransforms the incident light, as well as incident sound into electrons.For light this process is performed by CCD or CMOS chip 3304. Themicrophone transforms sound into electrical impulses.

The first step in the process of generating an image for a video call isto digitize the image. The CCD or CMOS chip 3304 dissects the image andconverts it into pixels. If a pixel has collected many photons, thevoltage will be high. If the pixel has collected few photons, thevoltage will be low. This voltage is an analog value. During the secondstep of digitization, the voltage is transformed into a digital value bythe analog to digital converter 3306, which handles image processing. Atthis point, a raw digital image is available.

Audio captured by the microphone 3312 is also transformed into avoltage. This voltage is sent to the analog to digital converter 3314where the analog values are transformed into digital values.

The next step is to enhance the signal so that it may be sent to viewersof the video call or conference. Signal enhancement includes creatingcolor in the image using a color filter, located in front of the CCD orCMOS chip 3304. This filter is red, green, or blue and changes its colorfrom pixel to pixel, and in an embodiment, may be a color filter array,or Bayer filter. These raw digital images are then enhanced by thefilter to meet aesthetic requirements. Audio data may also be enhancedfor a better calling experience.

In the final step before transmission, the image and audio data arecompressed and output as a digital video stream, in an embodiment usinga digital video camera. If a photo camera is used, single images may beoutput, and in a further embodiment, voice comments may be appended tothe files. The enhancement of the raw digital data takes place away fromthe camera, and in an embodiment may occur in the device controller orcomputing device that the augmented reality glasses communicate withduring a video call or conference.

Further embodiments may provide for portable cameras for use inindustry, medicine, astronomy, microscopy, and other fields requiringspecialized camera use. These cameras often forgo signal enhancement andoutput the raw digital image. These cameras may be mounted on otherelectronic devices or the user's hand for ease of use.

The camera interfaces to the augmented reality glasses and the devicecontroller or computing device using an IEEE 1394 interface bus. Thisinterface bus transmits time critical data, such as a video and datawhose integrity is critically important, including parameters or filesto manipulate data or transfer images.

In addition to the interface bus, protocols define the behavior of thedevices associated with the video call or conference. The camera for usewith the augmented reality glasses, may, in embodiments, employ one ofthe following protocols: AV/C, DCAM, or SBP-2.

AV/C is a protocol for Audio Video Control and defines the behavior ofdigital video devices, including video cameras and video recorders.

DCAM refers to the 1394 based Digital Camera Specification and definesthe behavior of cameras that output uncompressed image data withoutaudio.

SBP-2 refers to Serial Bus Protocol and defines the behavior of massstorage devices, such as hard drives or disks.

Devices that use the same protocol are able to communicate with eachother. Thus, for video calling using the augmented reality glasses, thesame protocol may be used by the video camera on the device controllerand the augmented reality glasses. Because the augmented realityglasses, device controller, and camera use the same protocol, data maybe exchanged among these devices. Files that may be transferred amongdevices include: image and audio files, image and audio data flows,parameters to control the camera, and the like.

In an embodiment, a user desiring to initiate a video call may select avideo call option from a screen presented when the call process isinitiated. The user selects by making a gesture using a pointing device,or gesture to signal the selection of the video call option. The userthen positions the camera located on the device controller, wristwatch,or other separable electronic device so that the user's image iscaptured by the camera. The image is processed through the processdescribed above and is then streamed to the augmented reality glassesand the other participants for display to the users.

In embodiments, the camera may be mounted on a cell phone, personaldigital assistant, wristwatch, pendant, or other small portable devicecapable of being carried, worn, or mounted. The images or video capturedby the camera may be streamed to the eyepiece.

In embodiments, the present disclosure may provide the wearer withGPS-based content reception, as in FIG. 6. As noted, augmented realityglasses of the present disclosure may include memory, a globalpositioning system, a compass or other orienting device, and a camera.GPS-based computer programs available to the wearer may include a numberof applications typically available from the Apple Inc. App Store foriPhone use. Similar versions of these programs are available for otherbrands of smartphones and may be applied to embodiments of the presentdisclosure. These programs include, for example, SREngine (scenerecognition engine), NearestTube, TAT Augmented ID, Yelp, Layar, andTwittARound, as well as other more specialized applications, such asRealSki.

SREngine is a scene recognition engine that is able to identify objectsviewed by the user's camera. It is a software engine able to recognizestatic scenes, such as scenes of architecture, structures, pictures,objects, rooms, and the like. It is then able to automatically apply avirtual “label” to the structures or objects according to what itrecognizes. For example, the program may be called up by a user of thepresent disclosure when viewing a street scene, such as FIG. 6. Using acamera of the augmented reality glasses, the engine will recognize theFontaines de la Concorde in Paris. The program will then summon avirtual label, shown in FIG. 6 as part of a virtual image 618 projectedonto the lens 602. The label may be text only, as seen at the bottom ofthe image 618. Other labels applicable to this scene may include“fountain,” “museum,” “hotel,” or the name of the columned building inthe rear. Other programs of this type may include the Wikitude AR TravelGuide, Yelp and many others.

NearestTube, for example, uses the same technology to direct a user tothe closest subway station in London, and other programs may perform thesame function, or similar, in other cities. Layar is another applicationthat uses the camera, a compass or direction, and GPS data to identify auser's location and field of view. With this information, an overlay orlabel may appear virtually to help orient and guide the user. Yelp andMonocle perform similar functions, but their databases are somewhat morespecialized, helping to direct users in a similar manner to restaurantsor to other service providers.

The user may control the glasses, and call up these functions, using anyof the controls described in this patent. For example, the glasses maybe equipped with a microphone to pick up voice commands from a user andprocess them using software contained with a memory of the glasses. Theuser may then respond to prompts from small speakers or earbuds alsocontained within the glasses frame. The glasses may also be equippedwith a tiny track pad, similar to those found on smartphones. Thetrackpad may allow a user to move a pointer or indicator on the virtualscreen within the AR glasses, similar to a touch screen. When the userreaches a desired point on the screen, the user depresses the track padto indicate his or her selection. Thus, a user may call up a program,e.g., a travel guide, and then find his or her way through severalmenus, perhaps selecting a country, a city and then a category. Thecategory selections may include, for example, hotels, shopping, museums,restaurants, and so forth. The user makes his or her selections and isthen guided by the AR program. In one embodiment, the glasses alsoinclude a GPS locator, and the present country and city provides defaultlocations that may be overridden.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece's object recognition software may processthe images being received by the eyepiece's forward facing camera inorder to determine what is in the field of view. In other embodiments,the GPS coordinates of the location as determined by the eyepiece's GPSmay be enough to determine what is in the field of view. In otherembodiments, an RFID or other beacon in the environment may bebroadcasting a location. Any one or combination of the above may be usedby the eyepiece to identify the location and the identity of what is inthe field of view.

When an object is recognized, the resolution for imaging that object maybe increased or images or video may be captured at low compression.Additionally, the resolution for other objects in the user's view may bedecreased, or captured at a higher compression rate in order to decreasethe needed bandwidth.

Once determined, content related to points of interest in the field ofview may be overlaid on the real world image, such as social networkingcontent, interactive tours, local information, and the like. Informationand content related to movies, local information, weather, restaurants,restaurant availability, local events, local taxis, music, and the likemay be accessed by the eyepiece and projected on to the lens of theeyepiece for the user to view and interact with. For example, as theuser looks at the Eiffel Tower, the forward facing camera may take animage and send it for processing to the eyepiece's associated processor.Object recognition software may determine that the structure in thewearer's field of view is the Eiffel Tower. Alternatively, the GPScoordinates determined by the eyepiece's GPS may be searched in adatabase to determine that the coordinates match those of the EiffelTower. In any event, content may then be searched relating to the EiffelTower visitor's information, restaurants in the vicinity and in theTower itself, local weather, local Metro information, local hotelinformation, other nearby tourist spots, and the like. Interacting withthe content may be enabled by the control mechanisms described herein.In an embodiment, GPS-based content reception may be enabled when aTourist Mode of the eyepiece is entered.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece may be used to view streaming video. Forexample, videos may be identified via search by GPS location, search byobject recognition of an object in the field of view, a voice search, aholographic keyboard search, and the like. Continuing with the exampleof the Eiffel Tower, a video database may be searched via the GPScoordinates of the Tower or by the term ‘Eiffel Tower’ once it has beendetermined that is the structure in the field of view. Search resultsmay include geo-tagged videos or videos associated with the EiffelTower. The videos may be scrolled or flipped through using the controltechniques described herein. Videos of interest may be played using thecontrol techniques described herein. The video may be laid over the realworld scene or may be displayed on the lens out of the field of view. Inan embodiment, the eyepiece may be darkened via the mechanisms describedherein to enable higher contrast viewing. In another example, theeyepiece may be able to utilize a camera and network connectivity, suchas described herein, to provide the wearer with streaming videoconferencing capabilities.

As noted, the user of augmented reality may receive content from anabundance of sources. A visitor or tourist may desire to limit thechoices to local businesses or institutions; on the other hand,businesses seeking out visitors or tourists may wish to limit theiroffers or solicitations to persons who are in their area or location butwho are visiting rather than local residents. Thus, in one embodiment,the visitor or tourist may limit his or her search only to localbusinesses, say those within certain geographic limits. These limits maybe set via GPS criteria or by manually indicating a geographicrestriction. For example, a person may require that sources of streamingcontent or ads be limited to those within a certain radius (a set numberor km or miles) of the person. Alternatively, the criteria may requirethat the sources are limited to those within a certain city or province.These limits may be set by the augmented reality user just as a user ofa computer at a home or office would limit his or her searches using akeyboard or a mouse; the entries for augmented reality users are simplymade by voice, by hand motion, or other ways described elsewhere in theportions of this disclosure discussing controls.

In addition, the available content chosen by a user may be restricted orlimited by the type of provider. For example, a user may restrictchoices to those with a website operated by a government institution(.gov) or by a non-profit institution or organization (.org). In thisway, a tourist or visitor who may be more interested in visitinggovernment offices, museums, historical sites and the like, may find hisor her choices less cluttered. The person may be more easily able tomake decisions when the available choices have been pared down to a morereasonable number. The ability to quickly cut down the available choicesis desirable in more urban areas, such as Paris or Washington, D.C.,where there are many choices.

The user controls the glasses in any of the manners or modes describedelsewhere in this patent. For example, the user may call up a desiredprogram or application by voice or by indicating a choice on the virtualscreen of the augmented reality glasses. The augmented glasses mayrespond to a track pad mounted on the frame of the glasses, as describedabove. Alternatively, the glasses may be responsive to one or moremotion or position sensors mounted on the frame. The signals from thesensors are then sent to a microprocessor or microcontroller within theglasses, the glasses also providing any needed signal transducing orprocessing. Once the program of choice has begun, the user makesselections and enters a response by any of the methods discussed herein,such as signaling “yes” or “no” with a head movement, a hand gesture, atrackpad depression, or a voice command.

At the same time, content providers, that is, advertisers, may also wishto restrict their offerings to persons who are within a certaingeographic area, e.g., their city limits. At the same time, anadvertiser, perhaps a museum, may not wish to offer content to localpersons, but may wish to reach visitors or out-of-towners. The augmentedreality devices discussed herein are desirably equipped with both GPScapability and telecommunications capability. It will be a simple matterfor the museum to provide streaming content within a limited area bylimiting its broadcast power. The museum, however, may provide thecontent through the Internet and its content may be availableworld-wide. In this instance, a user may receive content through anaugmented reality device advising that the museum is open today and isavailable for touring.

The user may respond to the content by the augmented reality equivalentof clicking on a link for the museum. The augmented reality equivalentmay be a voice indication, a hand or eye movement, or other sensoryindication of the user's choice, or by using an associated body-mountedcontroller. The museum then receives a cookie indicating the identity ofthe user or at least the user's internet service provider (ISP). If thecookie indicates or suggests an internet service provider other thanlocal providers, the museum server may then respond with advertisementsor offers tailored to visitors. The cookie may also include anindication of a telecommunications link, e.g., a telephone number. Ifthe telephone number is not a local number, this is an additional cluethat the person responding is a visitor. The museum or other institutionmay then follow up with the content desired or suggested by itsmarketing department.

Another application of the augmented reality eyepiece takes advantage ofa user's ability to control the eyepiece and its tools with a minimumuse of the user's hands, using instead voice commands, gestures ormotions. As noted above, a user may call upon the augmented realityeyepiece to retrieve information. This information may already be storedin a memory of the eyepiece, but may instead be located remotely, suchas a database accessible over the Internet or perhaps via an intranetwhich is accessible only to employees of a particular company ororganization. The eyepiece may thus be compared to a computer or to adisplay screen which can be viewed and heard at an extremely close rangeand generally controlled with a minimal use of one's hands.

Applications may thus include providing information on-the-spot to amechanic or electronics technician. The technician can don the glasseswhen seeking information about a particular structure or problemencountered, for example, when repairing an engine or a power supply.Using voice commands, he or she may then access the database and searchwithin the database for particular information, such as manuals or otherrepair and maintenance documents. The desired information may thus bepromptly accessed and applied with a minimum of effort, allowing thetechnician to more quickly perform the needed repair or maintenance andto return the equipment to service. For mission-critical equipment, suchtime savings may also save lives, in addition to saving repair ormaintenance costs.

The information imparted may include repair manuals and the like, butmay also include a full range of audio-visual information, i.e., theeyepiece screen may display to the technician or mechanic a video of howto perform a particular task at the same time the person is attemptingto perform the task. The augmented reality device also includestelecommunications capabilities, so the technician also has the abilityto call on others to assist if there is some complication or unexpecteddifficulty with the task. This educational aspect of the presentdisclosure is not limited to maintenance and repair, but may be appliedto any educational endeavor, such as secondary or post-secondaryclasses, continuing education courses or topics, seminars, and the like.

In an embodiment, a Wi-Fi enabled eyepiece may run a location-basedapplication for geo-location of opted-in users. Users may opt-in bylogging into the application on their phone and enabling broadcast oftheir location, or by enabling geo-location on their own eyepiece. As awearer of the eyepiece scans people, and thus their opted-in device, theapplication may identify opted-in users and send an instruction to theprojector to project an augmented reality indicator on an opted-in userin the user's field of view. For example, green rings may be placedaround people who have opted-in to have their location seen. In anotherexample, yellow rings may indicate people who have opted-in but don'tmeet some criteria, such as they do not have a FACEBOOK account, or thatthere are no mutual friends if they do have a FACEBOOK account.

Some social networking, career networking, and dating applications maywork in concert with the location-based application. Software residenton the eyepiece may coordinate data from the networking and dating sitesand the location-based application. For example, TwittARound is one suchprogram which makes use of a mounted camera to detect and labellocation-stamped tweets from other tweeters nearby. This will enable aperson using the present disclosure to locate other nearby Twitterusers. Alternatively, users may have to set their devices to coordinateinformation from various networking and dating sites. For example, thewearer of the eyepiece may want to see all E-HARMONY users who arebroadcasting their location. If an opted-in user is identified by theeyepiece, an augmented reality indicator may be laid over the opted-inuser. The indicator may take on a different appearance if the user hassomething in common with the wearer, many things in common with theuser, and the like. For example, and referring to FIG. 16, two peopleare being viewed by the wearer. Both of the people are identified asE-HARMONY users by the rings placed around them. However, the womanshown with solid rings has more than one item in common with the wearerwhile the woman shown with dotted rings has no items in common with thewearer. Any available profile information may get accessed and displayedto the user.

In an embodiment, when the wearer directs the eyepiece in the directionof a user who has a networking account, such as FACEBOOK, TWITTER,BLIPPY, LINKEDIN, GOOGLE, WIKIPEDIA, and the like, the user's recentposts or profile information may be displayed to the wearer. Forexample, recent status updates, “tweets”, “blips”, and the like may getdisplayed, as mentioned above for TwittARound. In an embodiment, whenthe wearer points the eyepiece in a target user's direction, they mayindicate interest in the user if the eyepiece is pointed for a durationof time and/or a gesture, head, eye, or audio control is activated. Thetarget user may receive an indication of interest on their phone or intheir glasses. If the target user had marked the wearer as interestingbut was waiting on the wearer to show interest first, an indication mayimmediately pop up in the eyepiece of the target user's interest. Acontrol mechanism may be used to capture an image and store the targetuser's information on associated non-volatile memory or in an onlineaccount.

In other applications for social networking, a facial recognitionprogram, such as TAT Augmented ID, from TAT—The Astonishing Tribe,Malmö, Sweden, may be used. Such a program may be used to identify aperson by his or her facial characteristics. This software uses facialrecognition software to identify a person. Using other applications,such as photo identifying software from Flickr, one can then identifythe particular nearby person, and one can then download information fromsocial networking sites with information about the person. Thisinformation may include the person's name and the profile the person hasmade available on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and the like. Thisapplication may be used to refresh a user's memory of a person or toidentify a nearby person, as well as to gather information about theperson.

In other applications for social networking, the wearer may be able toutilize location-based facilities of the eyepiece to leave notes,comments, reviews, and the like, at locations, in association withpeople, places, products, and the like. For example, a person may beable to post a comment on a place they visited, where the posting maythen be made available to others through the social network. In anotherexample, a person may be able to post that comment at the location ofthe place such that the comment is available when another person comesto that location. In this way, a wearer may be able to access commentsleft by others when they come to the location. For instance, a wearermay come to the entrance to a restaurant, and be able to access reviewsfor the restaurant, such as sorted by some criteria (e.g. most recentreview, age of reviewer, and the like).

A user may initiate the desired program by voice, by selecting a choicefrom a virtual touchscreen, as described above, by using a trackpad toselect and choose the desired program, or by any of the controltechniques described herein. Menu selections may then be made in asimilar or complementary manner. Sensors or input devices mounted inconvenient locations on the user's body may also be used, e.g., sensorsand a track pad mounted on a wrist pad, on a glove, or even a discreetdevice, perhaps of the size of a smart phone or a personal digitalassistant.

Applications of the present disclosure may provide the wearer withInternet access, such as for browsing, searching, shopping,entertainment, and the like, such as through a wireless communicationsinterface to the eyepiece. For instance, a wearer may initiate a websearch with a control gesture, such as through a control facility wornon some portion of the wearer's body (e.g. on the hand, the head, thefoot), on some component being used by the wearer (e.g. a personalcomputer, a smart phone, a music player), on a piece of furniture nearthe wearer (e.g. a chair, a desk, a table, a lamp), and the like, wherethe image of the web search is projected for viewing by the wearerthrough the eyepiece. The wearer may then view the search through theeyepiece and control web interaction though the control facility.

In an example, a user may be wearing an embodiment configured as a pairof glasses, with the projected image of an Internet web browser providedthrough the glasses while retaining the ability to simultaneously viewat least portions of the surrounding real environment. In this instance,the user may be wearing a motion sensitive control facility on theirhand, where the control facility may transmit relative motion of theuser's hand to the eyepiece as control motions for web control, such assimilar to that of a mouse in a conventional personal computerconfiguration. It is understood that the user would be enabled toperform web actions in a similar fashion to that of a conventionalpersonal computer configuration. In this case, the image of the websearch is provided through the eyepiece while control for selection ofactions to carry out the search is provided though motions of the hand.For instance, the overall motion of the hand may move a cursor withinthe projected image of the web search, the flick of the finger(s) mayprovide a selection action, and so forth. In this way, the wearer may beenabled to perform the desired web search, or any other Internetbrowser-enabled function, through an embodiment connected to theInternet. In one example, a user may have downloaded computer programsYelp or Monocle, available from the App Store, or a similar product,such as NRU (“near you”), an application from Zagat to locate nearbyrestaurants or other stores, Google Earth, Wikipedia, or the like. Theperson may initiate a search, for example, for restaurants, or otherproviders of goods or services, such as hotels, repairmen, and the like,or information. When the desired information is found, locations aredisplayed or a distance and direction to a desired location isdisplayed. The display may take the form of a virtual label co-locatedwith the real world object in the user's view.

Other applications from Layar (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) include avariety of “layers” tailored for specific information desired by a user.A layer may include restaurant information, information about a specificcompany, real estate listings, gas stations, and so forth. Using theinformation provided in a software application, such as a mobileapplication and a user's global positioning system (GPS), informationmay be presented on a screen of the glasses with tags having the desiredinformation. Using the haptic controls or other control discussedelsewhere in this disclosure, a user may pivot or otherwise rotate hisor her body and view buildings tagged with virtual tags containinginformation. If the user seeks restaurants, the screen will displayrestaurant information, such as name and location. If a user seeks aparticular address, virtual tags will appear on buildings in the fieldof view of the wearer. The user may then make selections or choices byvoice, by trackpad, by virtual touch screen, and so forth.

Applications of the present disclosure may provide a way foradvertisements to be delivered to the wearer. For example,advertisements may be displayed to the viewer through the eyepiece asthe viewer is going about his or her day, while browsing the Internet,conducting a web search, walking though a store, and the like. Forinstance, the user may be performing a web search, and through the websearch the user is targeted with an advertisement. In this example, theadvertisement may be projected in the same space as the projected websearch, floating off to the side, above, or below the view angle of thewearer. In another example, advertisements may be triggered for deliveryto the eyepiece when some advertising providing facility, perhaps one inproximity to the wearer, senses the presence of the eyepiece (e.g.through a wireless connection, RFID, and the like), and directs theadvertisement to the eyepiece.

For example, the wearer may be window-shopping in Manhattan, wherestores are equipped with such advertising providing facilities. As thewearer walks by the stores, the advertising providing facilities maytrigger the delivery of an advertisement to the wearer based on a knownlocation of the user determined by an integrated location sensor of theeyepiece, such as a GPS. In an embodiment, the location of the user maybe further refined via other integrated sensors, such as a magnetometerto enable hyperlocal augmented reality advertising. For example, a useron a ground floor of a mall may receive certain advertisements if themagnetometer and GPS readings place the user in front of a particularstore. When the user goes up one flight in the mall, the GPS locationmay remain the same, but the magnetometer reading may indicate a changein elevation of the user and a new placement of the user in front of adifferent store. In embodiments, one may store personal profileinformation such that the advertising providing facility is able tobetter match advertisements to the needs of the wearer, the wearer mayprovide preferences for advertisements, the wearer may block at leastsome of the advertisements, and the like. The wearer may also be able topass advertisements, and associated discounts, on to friends. The wearermay communicate them directly to friends that are in close proximity andenabled with their own eyepiece; they may also communicate them througha wireless Internet connection, such as to a social network of friends,though email, SMS; and the like. The wearer may be connected tofacilities and/or infrastructure that enables the communication ofadvertisements from a sponsor to the wearer; feedback from the wearer toan advertisement facility, the sponsor of the advertisement, and thelike; to other users, such as friends and family, or someone inproximity to the wearer; to a store, such as locally on the eyepiece orin a remote site, such as on the Internet or on a user's home computer;and the like. These interconnectivity facilities may include integratedfacilities to the eyepiece to provide the user's location and gazedirection, such as through the use of GPS, 3-axis sensors, magnetometer,gyros, accelerometers, and the like, for determining direction, speed,attitude (e.g. gaze direction) of the wearer. Interconnectivityfacilities may provide telecommunications facilities, such as cellularlink, a WiFi/MiFi bridge, and the like. For instance, the wearer may beable to communicate through an available WiFi link, through anintegrated MiFi (or any other personal or group cellular link) to thecellular system, and the like. There may be facilities for the wearer tostore advertisements for a later use. There may be facilities integratedwith the wearer's eyepiece or located in local computer facilities thatenable caching of advertisements, such as within a local area, where thecached advertisements may enable the delivery of the advertisements asthe wearer nears the location associated with the advertisement. Forexample, local advertisements may be stored on a server that containsgeo-located local advertisements and specials, and these advertisementsmay be delivered to the wearer individually as the wearer approaches aparticular location, or a set of advertisements may be delivered to thewearer in bulk when the wearer enters a geographic area that isassociated with the advertisements so that the advertisements areavailable when the user nears a particular location. The geographiclocation may be a city, a part of the city, a number of blocks, a singleblock, a street, a portion of the street, sidewalk, and the like,representing regional, local, hyper-local areas. Note that the precedingdiscussion uses the term advertisement, but one skilled in the art willappreciate that this can also mean an announcement, a broadcast, acircular, a commercial, a sponsored communication, an endorsement, anotice, a promotion, a bulletin, a message, and the like.

FIGS. 18-20A depict ways to deliver custom messages to persons within ashort distance of an establishment that wishes to send a message, suchas a retail store. Referring to FIG. 18 now, embodiments may provide fora way to view custom billboards, such as when the wearer of the eyepieceis walking or driving, by applications as mentioned above for searchingfor providers of goods and services. As depicted in FIG. 18, thebillboard 1800 shows an exemplary augmented reality-based advertisementdisplayed by a seller or a service provider. The exemplaryadvertisement, as depicted, may relate to an offer on drinks by a bar.For example, two drinks may be provided for the cost of just one drink.With such augmented reality-based advertisements and offers, thewearer's attention may be easily directed towards the billboards. Thebillboards may also provide details about location of the bar such asstreet address, floor number, phone number, and the like. In accordancewith other embodiments, several devices other than eyepiece may beutilized to view the billboards. These devices may include withoutlimitations smartphones, IPHONEs, IPADs, car windshields, user glasses,helmets, wristwatches, headphones, vehicle mounts, and the like. Inaccordance with an embodiment, a user (wearer in case the augmentedreality technology is embedded in the eyepiece) may automaticallyreceive offers or view a scene of the billboards as and when the userpasses or drives by the road. In accordance with another embodiment, theuser may receive offers or view the scene of the billboards based on hisrequest.

FIG. 19 illustrates two exemplary roadside billboards 1900 containingoffers and advertisements fromsellers or service providers that may beviewed in the augmented reality manner. The augmented advertisement mayprovide a live and near-to-reality perception to the user or the wearer.

As illustrated in FIG. 20, the augmented reality enabled device such asthe camera lens provided in the eyepiece may be utilized to receiveand/or view graffiti 2000, slogans, drawings, and the like, that may bedisplayed on the roadside or on top, side, front of the buildings andshops. The roadside billboards and the graffiti may have a visual (e.g.a code, a shape) or wireless indicator that may link the advertisement,or advertisement database, to the billboard. When the wearer nears andviews the billboard, a projection of the billboard advertisement maythen be provided to the wearer. In embodiments, one may also storepersonal profile information such that the advertisements may bettermatch the needs of the wearer, the wearer may provide preferences foradvertisements, the wearer may block at least some of theadvertisements, and the like. In embodiments, the eyepiece may havebrightness and contrast control over the eyepiece projected area of thebillboard so as to improve readability for the advertisement, such as ina bright outside environment.

In other embodiments, users may post information or messages on aparticular location, based on its GPS location or other indicator oflocation, such as a magnetometer reading. The intended viewer is able tosee the message when the viewer is within a certain distance of thelocation, as explained with FIG. 20A. In a first step 2001 of the methodFIG. 20A, a user decides the location where the message is to bereceived by persons to whom the message is sent. The message is thenposted 2003, to be sent to the appropriate person or persons when therecipient is close to the intended “viewing area.” Location of thewearers of the augmented reality eyepiece is continuously updated 2005by the GPS system which forms a part of the eyepiece. When the GPSsystem determines that the wearer is within a certain distance of thedesired viewing area, e.g., 10 meters, the message is then sent 2007 tothe viewer. In one embodiment, the message then appears as e-mail or atext message to the recipient, or if the recipient is wearing aneyepiece, the message may appear in the eyepiece. Because the message issent to the person based on the person's location, in one sense, themessage may be displayed as “graffiti” on a building or feature at ornear the specified location. Specific settings may be used to determineif all passersby to the “viewing area” can see the message or if only aspecific person or group of people or devices with specific identifiers.

Embodiments may provide for a way to view information associated withproducts, such as in a store. Information may include nutritionalinformation for food products, care instructions for clothing products,technical specifications for consumer electronics products, e-coupons,promotions, price comparisons with other like products, pricecomparisons with other stores, and the like. This information may beprojected in relative position with the product, to the periphery ofsight to the wearer, in relation to the store layout, and the like. Theproduct may be identified visually through a SKU, a brand tag, and thelike; transmitted by the product packaging, such as through an RFID tagon the product; transmitted by the store, such as based on the wearer'sposition in the store, in relative position to the products; and thelike.

For example, a viewer may be walking though a clothing store, and asthey walk are provided with information on the clothes on the rack,where the information is provided through the product's RFID tag. Inembodiments, the information may be delivered as a list of information,as a graphic representation, as audio and/or video presentation, and thelike. In another example, the wearer may be food shopping, andadvertisement providing facilities may be providing information to thewearer in association with products in the wearer's proximity, thewearer may be provided information when they pick up the product andview the brand, product name, SKU, and the like. In this way, the wearermay be provided a more informative environment in which to effectivelyshop.

One embodiment may allow a user to receive or share information aboutshopping or an urban area through the use of the augmented realityenabled devices such as the camera lens fitted in the eyepiece ofexemplary sunglasses. These embodiments will use augmented reality (AR)software applications such as those mentioned above in conjunction withsearching for providers of goods and services. In one scenario, thewearer of the eyepiece may walk down a street or a market for shoppingpurposes. Further, the user may activate various modes that may assistin defining user preferences for a particular scenario or environment.For example the user may enter navigation mode through which the wearermay be guided across the streets and the market for shopping of thepreferred accessories and products. The mode may be selected and variousdirections may be given by the wearer through various methods such asthrough text commands, voice commands, and the like. In an embodiment,the wearer may give a voice command to select the navigation mode whichmay result in the augmented display in front of the wearer. Theaugmented information may depict information pertinent to the locationof various shops and vendors in the market, offers in various shops andby various vendors, current happy hours, current date and time and thelike. Various sorts of options may also be displayed to the wearer. Thewearer may scroll the options and walk down the street guided throughthe navigation mode. Based on options provided, the wearer may select aplace that suits him the best for shopping based on such as offers anddiscounts and the like.

The wearer may give a voice command to navigate toward the place and thewearer may then be guided toward it. The wearer may also receiveadvertisements and offers automatically or based on request regardingcurrent deals, promotions and events in the interested location such asa nearby shopping store. The advertisements, deals and offers may appearin proximity of the wearer and options may be displayed for purchasingdesired products based on the advertisements, deals and offers. Thewearer may for example select a product and purchase it through a Googlecheckout. A message or an email may appear on the eyepiece, similar tothe one depicted in FIG. 7, with information that the transaction forthe purchase of the product has been completed. A product deliverystatus/information may also be displayed. The wearer may further conveyor alert friends and relatives regarding the offers and events throughsocial networking platforms and may also ask them to join.

In embodiments, the user may wear the head-mounted eyepiece wherein theeyepiece includes an optical assembly through which the user may view asurrounding environment and displayed content. The displayed content maycomprise one or more local advertisements. The location of the eyepiecemay be determined by an integrated location sensor and the localadvertisement may have a relevance to the location of the eyepiece. Byway of example, the user's location may be determined via GPS, RFID,manual input, and the like. Further, the user may be walking by a coffeeshop, and based on the user's proximity to the shop, an advertisement,similar to those depicted in FIG. 19, showing the store's brand ofcoffee may appear in the user's field of view. The user may experiencesimilar types of local advertisements as he or she moves about thesurrounding environment.

In other embodiments, the eyepiece may contain a capacitive sensorcapable of sensing whether the eyepiece is in contact with human skin.Such sensor or group of sensors may be placed on the eyepiece and oreyepiece arm in such a manner that allows detection of when the glassesare being worn by a user. In other embodiments, sensors may be used todetermine whether the eyepiece is in a position such that they may beworn by a user, for example, when the earpiece is in the unfoldedposition. Furthermore, local advertisements may be sent only when theeyepiece is in contact with human skin, in a wearable position, acombination of the two, actually worn by the user and the like. In otherembodiments, the local advertisement may be sent in response to theeyepiece being powered on or in response to the eyepiece being poweredon and worn by the user and the like. By way of example, an advertisermay choose to only send local advertisements when a user is in proximityto a particular establishment and when the user is actually wearing theglasses and they are powered on allowing the advertiser to target theadvertisement to the user at the appropriate time.

In accordance with other embodiments, the local advertisement may bedisplayed to the user as a banner advertisement, two-dimensionalgraphic, text and the like. Further, the local advertisement may beassociated with a physical aspect of the user's view of the surroundingenvironment. The local advertisement may also be displayed as anaugmented reality advertisement wherein the advertisement is associatedwith a physical aspect of the surrounding environment. Suchadvertisement may be two or three-dimensional. By way of example, alocal advertisement may be associated with a physical billboard asdescribed further in FIG. 18 wherein the user's attention may be drawnto displayed content showing a beverage being poured from a billboard1800 onto an actual building in the surrounding environment. The localadvertisement may also contain sound that is displayed to the userthrough an earpiece, audio device or other means. Further, the localadvertisement may be animated in embodiments. For example, the user mayview the beverage flow from the billboard onto an adjacent building and,optionally, into the surrounding environment. Similarly, anadvertisement may display any other type of motion as desired in theadvertisement. Additionally, the local advertisement may be displayed asa three-dimensional object that may be associated with or interact withthe surrounding environment. In embodiments where the advertisement isassociated with an object in the user's view of the surroundingenvironment, the advertisement may remain associated with or inproximity to the object even as the user turns his head. For example, ifan advertisement, such as the coffee cup as described in FIG. 19, isassociated with a particular building, the coffee cup advertisement mayremain associated with and in place over the building even as the userturns his head to look at another object in his environment.

In other embodiments, local advertisements may be displayed to the userbased on a web search conducted by the user where the advertisement isdisplayed in the content of the web search results. For example, theuser may search for “happy hour” as he is walking down the street, andin the content of the search results, a local advertisement may bedisplayed advertising a local bar's beer prices.

Further, the content of the local advertisement may be determined basedon the user's personal information. The user's information may be madeavailable to a web application, an advertising facility and the like.Further, a web application, advertising facility or the user's eyepiecemay filter the advertising based on the user's personal information.Generally, for example, a user may store personal information about hislikes and dislikes and such information may be used to directadvertising to the user's eyepiece. By way of specific example, the usermay store data about his affinity for a local sports team, and asadvertisements are made available, those advertisements with hisfavorite sports team may be given preference and pushed to the user.Similarly, a user's dislikes may be used to exclude certainadvertisements from view. In various embodiments, the advertisements maybe cashed on a server where the advertisement may be accessed by atleast one of an advertising facility, web application and eyepiece anddisplayed to the user.

In various embodiments, the user may interact with any type of localadvertisement in numerous ways. The user may request additionalinformation related to a local advertisement by making at least oneaction of an eye movement, body movement and other gesture. For example,if an advertisement is displayed to the user, he may wave his hand overthe advertisement in his field of view or move his eyes over theadvertisement in order to select the particular advertisement to receivemore information relating to such advertisement. Moreover, the user maychoose to ignore the advertisement by any movement or control technologydescribed herein such as through an eye movement, body movement, othergesture and the like. Further, the user may chose to ignore theadvertisement by allowing it to be ignored by default by not selectingthe advertisement for further interaction within a given period of time.For example, if the user chooses not to gesture for more informationfrom the advertisement within five seconds of the advertisement beingdisplayed, the advertisement may be ignored by default and disappearfrom the users view. Furthermore, the user may select to not allow localadvertisements to be displayed whereby said user selects such an optionon a graphical user interface or by turning such feature off via acontrol on said eyepiece.

In other embodiments, the eyepiece may include an audio device.Accordingly, the displayed content may comprise a local advertisementand audio such that the user is also able to hear a message or othersound effects as they relate to the local advertisement. By way ofexample, and referring again to FIG. 18, while the user sees the beerbeing poured, he will actually be able to hear an audio transmissioncorresponding to the actions in the advertisement. In this case, theuser may hear the bottle open and then the sound of the liquid pouringout of the bottle and onto the rooftop. In yet other embodiments, adescriptive message may be played, and or general information may begiven as part of the advertisement. In embodiments, any audio may beplayed as desired for the advertisement.

In accordance with another embodiment, social networking may befacilitated with the use of the augmented reality enabled devices suchas a camera lens fitted in the eyepiece. This may be utilized to connectseveral users or other persons that may not have the augmented realityenabled device together who may share thoughts and ideas with eachother. For instance, the wearer of the eyepiece may be sitting in aschool campus along with other students. The wearer may connect with andsend a message to a first student who may be present in a coffee shop.The wearer may ask the first student regarding persons interested in aparticular subject such as environmental economics for example. As otherstudents pass through the field of view of the wearer, the camera lensfitted inside the eyepiece may track and match the students to anetworking database such as ‘Google me’ that may contain publicprofiles. Profiles of interested and relevant persons from the publicdatabase may appear and pop-up in front of the wearer on the eyepiece.Some of the profiles that may not be relevant may either be blocked orappear blocked to the user. The relevant profiles may be highlighted forquick reference of the wearer. The relevant profiles selected by thewearer may be interested in the subject environmental economics and thewearer may also connect with them. Further, they may also be connectedwith the first student. In this manner, a social network may beestablished by the wearer with the use of the eyepiece enabled with thefeature of the augmented reality. The social networks managed by thewearer and the conversations therein may be saved for future reference.

The present disclosure may be applied in a real estate scenario with theuse of the augmented reality enabled devices such as a camera lensfitted in an eyepiece. The wearer, in accordance with this embodiment,may want to get information about a place in which the user may bepresent at a particular time such as during driving, walking, joggingand the like. The wearer may, for instance, want to understandresidential benefits and loss in that place. He may also want to getdetailed information about the facilities in that place. Therefore, thewearer may utilize a map such as a Google online map and recognize thereal estate that may be available there for lease or purchase. As notedabove, the user may receive information about real estate for sale orrent using mobile Internet applications such as Layar. In one suchapplication, information about buildings within the user's field of viewis projected onto the inside of the glasses for consideration by theuser. Options may be displayed to the wearer on the eyepiece lens forscrolling, such as with a trackpad mounted on a frame of the glasses.The wearer may select and receive information about the selected option.The augmented reality enabled scenes of the selected options may bedisplayed to the wearer and the wearer may be able to view pictures andtake a facility tour in the virtual environment. The wearer may furtherreceive information about real estate agents and fix an appointment withone of those. An email notification or a call notification may also bereceived on the eyepiece for confirmation of the appointment. If thewearer finds the selected real estate of worth, a deal may be made andthat may be purchased by the wearer.

In accordance with another embodiment, customized and sponsored toursand travels may be enhanced through the use of the augmentedreality-enabled devices, such as a camera lens fitted in the eyepiece.For instance, the wearer (as a tourist) may arrive in a city such asParis and wants to receive tourism and sightseeing related informationabout the place to accordingly plan his visit for the consecutive daysduring his stay. The wearer may put on his eyepiece or operate any otheraugmented reality enabled device and give a voice or text commandregarding his request. The augmented reality enabled eyepiece may locatewearer position through geo-sensing techniques and decide tourismpreferences of the wearer. The eyepiece may receive and displaycustomized information based on the request of the wearer on a screen.The customized tourism information may include information about artgalleries and museums, monuments and historical places, shoppingcomplexes, entertainment and nightlife spots, restaurants and bars, mostpopular tourist destinations and centers/attractions of tourism, mostpopular local/cultural/regional destinations and attractions, and thelike without limitations. Based on user selection of one or more ofthese categories, the eyepiece may prompt the user with other questionssuch as time of stay, investment in tourism and the like. The wearer mayrespond through the voice command and in return receive customized tourinformation in an order as selected by the wearer. For example thewearer may give a priority to the art galleries over monuments.Accordingly, the information may be made available to the wearer.Further, a map may also appear in front of the wearer with differentsets of tour options and with different priority rank such as:

-   -   Priority Rank 1: First tour Option (Champs Elyse, Louvre, Rodin,        Museum, Famous Café)    -   Priority Rank 2: Second option    -   Priority Rank 3: Third Option

The wearer, for instance, may select the first option since it is rankedas highest in priority based on wearer indicated preferences.Advertisements related to sponsors may pop up right after selection.Subsequently, a virtual tour may begin in the augmented reality mannerthat may be very close to the real environment. The wearer may forexample take a 30 seconds tour to a vacation special to the AtlantisResort in the Bahamas. The virtual 3D tour may include a quick look atthe rooms, beach, public spaces, parks, facilities, and the like. Thewearer may also experience shopping facilities in the area and receiveoffers and discounts in those places and shops. At the end of the day,the wearer might have experienced a whole day tour sitting in hischamber or hotel. Finally, the wearer may decide and schedule his planaccordingly.

Another embodiment may allow information concerning auto repairs andmaintenance services with the use of the augmented reality enableddevices such as a camera lens fitted in the eyepiece. The wearer mayreceive advertisements related to auto repair shops and dealers bysending a voice command for the request. The request may, for exampleinclude a requirement of oil change in the vehicle/car. The eyepiece mayreceive information from the repair shop and display to the wearer. Theeyepiece may pull up a 3D model of the wearer's vehicle and show theamount of oil left in the car through an augmented reality enabledscene/view. The eyepiece may show other relevant information also aboutthe vehicle of the wearer such as maintenance requirements in otherparts like brake pads. The wearer may see 3D view of the wearing brakepads and may be interested in getting those repaired or changed.Accordingly, the wearer may schedule an appointment with a vendor to fixthe problem via using the integrated wireless communication capabilityof the eyepiece. The confirmation may be received through an email or anincoming call alert on the eyepiece camera lens.

In accordance with another embodiment, gift shopping may benefit throughthe use of the augmented reality enabled devices such as a camera lensfitted in the eyepiece. The wearer may post a request for a gift forsome occasion through a text or voice command. The eyepiece may promptthe wearer to answer his preferences such as type of gifts, age group ofthe person to receive the gift, cost range of the gift and the like.Various options may be presented to the user based on the receivedpreferences. For instance, the options presented to the wearer may be:Cookie basket, Wine and cheese basket, Chocolate assortment, Golfer'sgift basket, and the like.

The available options may be scrolled by the wearer and the best fitoption may be selected via the voice command or text command. Forexample, the wearer may select the Golfer's gift basket. A 3D view ofthe Golfer's gift basket along with a golf course may appear in front ofthe wearer. The virtual 3D view of the Golfer's gift basket and the golfcourse enabled through the augmented reality may be perceived very closeto the real world environment. The wearer may finally respond to theaddress, location and other similar queries prompted through theeyepiece. A confirmation may then be received through an email or anincoming call alert on the eyepiece camera lens.

Another application that may appeal to users is mobile on-line gamingusing the augmented reality glasses. These games may be computer videogames, such as those furnished by Electronic Arts Mobile, UbiSoft andActivision Blizzard, e.g., World of Warcraft® (WoW). Just as games andrecreational applications are played on computers at home (rather thancomputers at work), augmented reality glasses may also use gamingapplications. The screen may appear on an inside of the glasses so thata user may observe the game and participate in the game. In addition,controls for playing the game may be provided through a virtual gamecontroller, such as a joystick, control module or mouse, describedelsewhere herein. The game controller may include sensors or otheroutput type elements attached to the user's hand, such as for feedbackfrom the user through acceleration, vibration, force, electricalimpulse, temperature, electric field sensing, and the like. Sensors andactuators may be attached to the user's hand by way of a wrap, ring,pad, glove, bracelet, and the like. As such, an eyepiece virtual mousemay allow the user to translate motions of the hand, wrist, and/orfingers into motions of the cursor on the eyepiece display, where“motions” may include slow movements, rapid motions, jerky motions,position, change in position, and the like, and may allow users to workin three dimensions, without the need for a physical surface, andincluding some or all of the six degrees of freedom.

As seen in FIG. 27, gaming applications may use both the internet and aGPS. In one embodiment, a game is downloaded from a customer databasevia a game provider, perhaps using their web services and the internetas shown, to a user computer or augmented reality glasses. At the sametime, the glasses, which also have telecommunication capabilities,receive and send telecommunications and telemetry signals via a cellulartower and a satellite. Thus, an on-line gaming system has access toinformation about the user's location as well as the user's desiredgaming activities.

Games may take advantage of this knowledge of the location of eachplayer. For example, the games may build in features that use theplayer's location, via a GPS locator or magnetometer locator, to awardpoints for reaching the location. The game may also send a message,e.g., display a clue, or a scene or images, when a player reaches aparticular location. A message, for example, may be to go to a nextdestination, which is then provided to the player. Scenes or images maybe provided as part of a struggle or an obstacle which must be overcome,or as an opportunity to earn game points. Thus, in one embodiment,augmented reality eyepieces or glasses may use the wearer's location toquicken and enliven computer-based video games.

One method of playing augmented reality games is depicted in FIG. 28. Inthis method, a user logs into a website whereby access to a game ispermitted. The game is selected. In one example, the user may join agame, if multiple player games are available and desired; alternatively,the user may create a custom game, perhaps using special roles the userdesired. The game may be scheduled, and in some instances, players mayselect a particular time and place for the game, distribute directionsto the site where the game will be played, etc. Later, the players meetand check into the game, with one or more players using the augmentedreality glasses. Participants then play the game and if applicable, thegame results and any statistics (scores of the players, game times,etc.) may be stored. Once the game has begun, the location may changefor different players in the game, sending one player to one locationand another player or players to a different location. The game may thenhave different scenarios for each player or group of players, based ontheir GPS or magnetometer-provided locations. Each player may also besent different messages or images based on his or her role, his or herlocation, or both. Of course, each scenario may then lead to othersituations, other interactions, directions to other locations, and soforth. In one sense, such a game mixes the reality of the player'slocation with the game in which the player is participating.

Games can range from simple games of the type that would be played in apalm of a player's hand, such as small, single player games.Alternatively, more complicated, multi-player games may also be played.In the former category are games such as SkySiege, AR Drone and FireFighter 360. In addition, multiplayer games are also easily envisioned.Since all players must log into the game, a particular game may beplayed by friends who log in and specify the other person or persons.The location of the players is also available, via GPS or other method.Sensors in the augmented reality glasses or in a game controller asdescribed above, such as accelerometers, gyroscopes or even a magneticcompass, may also be used for orientation and game playing. An exampleis AR Invaders, available for iPhone applications from the App Store.Other games may be obtained from other vendors and for non-iPhone typesystems, such as Layar, of Amsterdam and Paris SA, Paris, France,supplier of AR Drone, AR Flying Ace and AR Pursuit.

In embodiments, games may also be in 3D such that the user canexperience 3D gaming. For example, when playing a 3D game, the user mayview a virtual, augmented reality or other environment where the user isable to control his view perspective. The user may turn his head to viewvarious aspects of the virtual environment or other environment. Assuch, when the user turns his head or makes other movements, he may viewthe game environment as if he were actually in such environment. Forexample, the perspective of the user may be such that the user is put‘into’ a 3D game environment with at least some control over the viewingperspective where the user may be able to move his head and have theview of the game environment change in correspondence to the changedhead position. Further, the user may be able to ‘walk into’ the gamewhen he physically walks forward, and have the perspective change as theuser moves. Further, the perspective may also change as the user movesthe gazing view of his eyes, and the like. Additional image informationmay be provided, such as at the sides of the user's view that could beaccessed by turning the head.

In embodiments, the 3D game environment may be projected onto the lensesof the glasses or viewed by other means. Further, the lenses may beopaque or transparent. In embodiments, the 3D game image may beassociated with and incorporate the external environment of the usersuch that the user may be able to turn his head and the 3D image andexternal environment stay together. Further, such 3D gaming image andexternal environment associations may change such that the 3D imageassociates with more than one object or more than one part of an objectin the external environment at various instances such that it appears tothe user that the 3D image is interacting with various aspects orobjects of the actual environment. By way of example, the user may viewa 3D game monster climb up a building or on to an automobile where suchbuilding or automobile is an actual object in the user's environment. Insuch a game, the user may interact with the monster as part of the 3Dgaming experience. The actual environment around the user may be part ofthe 3D gaming experience. In embodiments where the lenses aretransparent, the user may interact in a 3D gaming environment whilemoving about his or her actual environment. The 3D game may incorporateelements of the user's environment into the game, it may be whollyfabricated by the game, or it may be a mixture of both.

In embodiments, the 3D images may be associated with or generated by anaugmented reality program, 3D game software and the like or by othermeans. In embodiments where augmented reality is employed for thepurpose of 3D gaming, a 3D image may appear or be perceived by the userbased on the user's location or other data. Such an augmented realityapplication may provide for the user to interact with such 3D image orimages to provide a 3D gaming environment when using the glasses. As theuser changes his location, for example, play in the game may advance andvarious 3D elements of the game may become accessible or inaccessible tothe viewer. By way of example, various 3D enemies of the user's gamecharacter may appear in the game based on the actual location of theuser. The user may interact with or cause reactions from other usersplaying the game and or 3D elements associated with the other usersplaying the game. Such elements associated with users may includeweapons, messages, currency, a 3D image of the user and the like. Basedon a user's location or other data, he or she may encounter, view, orengage, by any means, other users and 3D elements associated with otherusers. In embodiments, 3D gaming may also be provided by softwareinstalled in or downloaded to the glasses where the user's location isor is not used.

In embodiments, the lenses may be opaque to provide the user with avirtual reality or other virtual 3D gaming experience where the user is‘put into’ the game where the user's movements may change the viewingperspective of the 3D gaming environment for the user. The user may movethrough or explore the virtual environment through various body, head,and or eye movements, use of game controllers, one or more touchscreens, or any of the control techniques described herein which mayallow the user to navigate, manipulate, and interact with the 3Denvironment, and thereby play the 3D game.

In various embodiments, the user may navigate, interact with andmanipulate the 3D game environment and experience 3D gaming via body,hand, finger, eye, or other movements, through the use of one or morewired or wireless controllers, one or more touch screens, any of thecontrol techniques described herein, and the like.

In embodiments, internal and external facilities available to theeyepiece may provide for learning the behavior of a user of theeyepiece, and storing that learned behavior in a behavioral database toenable location-aware control, activity-aware control, predictivecontrol, and the like. For example, a user may have events and/ortracking of actions recorded by the eyepiece, such as commands from theuser, images sensed through a camera, GPS location of the user, sensorinputs over time, triggered actions by the user, communications to andfrom the user, user requests, web activity, music listened to,directions requested, recommendations used or provided, and the like.This behavioral data may be stored in a behavioral database, such astagged with a user identifier or autonomously. The eyepiece may collectthis data in a learn mode, collection mode, and the like. The eyepiecemay utilize past data taken by the user to inform or remind the user ofwhat they did before, or alternatively, the eyepiece may utilize thedata to predict what eyepiece functions and applications the user mayneed based on past collected experiences. In this way, the eyepiece mayact as an automated assistant to the user, for example, launchingapplications at the usual time the user launches them, turning offaugmented reality and the GPS when nearing a location or entering abuilding, streaming in music when the user enters the gym, and the like.Alternately, the learned behavior and/or actions of a plurality ofeyepiece users may be autonomously stored in a collective behaviordatabase, where learned behaviors amongst the plurality of users areavailable to individual users based on similar conditions. For example,a user may be visiting a city, and waiting for a train on a platform,and the eyepiece of the user accesses the collective behavior databaseto determine what other users have done while waiting for the train,such as getting directions, searching for points of interest, listeningto certain music, looking up the train schedule, contacting the citywebsite for travel information, connecting to social networking sitesfor entertainment in the area, and the like. In this way, the eyepiecemay be able to provide the user with an automated assistant with thebenefit of many different user experiences. In embodiments, the learnedbehavior may be used to develop preference profiles, recommendations,advertisement targeting, social network contacts, behavior profiles forthe user or groups of users, and the like, for/to the user.

In an embodiment, the augmented reality eyepiece or glasses may includeone or more acoustic sensors for detecting sound. An example is depictedabove in FIG. 29. In one sense, acoustic sensors are similar tomicrophones, in that they detect sounds. Acoustic sensors typically haveone or more frequency bandwidths at which they are more sensitive, andthe sensors can thus be chosen for the intended application. Acousticsensors are available from a variety of manufacturers and are availablewith appropriate transducers and other required circuitry. Manufacturersinclude ITT Electronic Systems, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; MeggittSensing Systems, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., USA; and NationalInstruments, Austin, Tex., USA. Suitable microphones include those whichcomprise a single microphone as well as those which comprise an array ofmicrophones, or a microphone array.

Acoustic sensors may include those using micro electromechanical systems(MEMS) technology. Because of the very fine structure in a MEMS sensor,the sensor is extremely sensitive and typically has a wide range ofsensitivity. MEMS sensors are typically made using semiconductormanufacturing techniques. An element of a typical MEMS accelerometer isa moving beam structure composed of two sets of fingers. One set isfixed to a solid ground plane on a substrate; the other set is attachedto a known mass mounted on springs that can move in response to anapplied acceleration. This applied acceleration changes the capacitancebetween the fixed and moving beam fingers. The result is a verysensitive sensor. Such sensors are made, for example, bySTMicroelectronics, Austin, Tex. and Honeywell International, MorristownN.J., USA.

In addition to identification, sound capabilities of the augmentedreality devices may also be applied to locating an origin of a sound. Asis well known, at least two sound or acoustic sensors are needed tolocate a sound. The acoustic sensor will be equipped with appropriatetransducers and signal processing circuits, such as a digital signalprocessor, for interpreting the signal and accomplishing a desired goal.One application for sound locating sensors may be to determine theorigin of sounds from within an emergency location, such as a burningbuilding, an automobile accident, and the like. Emergency workersequipped with embodiments described herein may each have one or morethan one acoustic sensors or microphones embedded within the frame. Ofcourse, the sensors could also be worn on the person's clothing or evenattached to the person. In any event, the signals are transmitted to thecontroller of the augmented reality eyepiece. The eyepiece or glassesare equipped with GPS technology and may also be equipped withdirection-finding capabilities; alternatively, with two sensors perperson, the microcontroller can determine a direction from which thenoise originated.

If there are two or more firefighters, or other emergency responders,their location is known from their GPS capabilities. Either of the two,or a fire chief, or the control headquarters, then knows the position oftwo responders and the direction from each responder to the detectednoise. The exact point of origin of the noise can then be determinedusing known techniques and algorithms. See e.g., Acoustic Vector-SensorBeamforming and Capon Direction Estimation, M. Hawkes and A. Nehorai,IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 46, no. 9, September 1998,at 2291-2304; see also Cramer-Rér Bounds for Direction Finding by anAcoustic Vector Sensor Under Nonideal Gain-Phase Responses,Noncollocation or Nonorthogonal Orientation, P. K. Tam and K. T. Wong,IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 9. No. 8, August 2009, at 969-982. Thetechniques used may include timing differences (differences in time ofarrival of the parameter sensed), acoustic velocity differences, andsound pressure differences. Of course, acoustic sensors typicallymeasure levels of sound pressure (e.g., in decibels), and these otherparameters may be used in appropriate types of acoustic sensors,including acoustic emission sensors and ultrasonic sensors ortransducers.

The appropriate algorithms and all other necessary programming may bestored in the microcontroller of the eyepiece, or in memory accessibleto the eyepiece. Using more than one responder, or several responders, alikely location may then be determined, and the responders can attemptto locate the person to be rescued. In other applications, respondersmay use these acoustic capabilities to determine the location of aperson of interest to law enforcement. In still other applications, anumber of people on maneuvers may encounter hostile fire, includingdirect fire (line of sight) or indirect fire (out of line of sight,including high angle fire). The same techniques described here may beused to estimate a location of the hostile fire. If there are severalpersons in the area, the estimation may be more accurate, especially ifthe persons are separated at least to some extent, over a wider area.This may be an effective tool to direct counter-battery orcounter-mortar fire against hostiles. Direct fire may also be used ifthe target is sufficiently close.

In addition to microphones, the augmented reality eyepiece may beequipped with ear buds, which may be articulating ear buds, as mentionedelsewhere herein, and may be removably attached 1403, or may be equippedwith an audio output jack 1401. The eyepiece and ear buds may beequipped to deliver noise-cancelling interference, allowing the user tobetter hear sounds delivered from the audio-video communicationscapabilities of the augmented reality eyepiece or glasses, and mayfeature automatic gain control. The speakers or ear buds of theaugmented reality eyepiece may also connect with the full audio andvisual capabilities of the device, with the ability to deliver highquality and clear sound from the included telecommunications device. Asnoted elsewhere herein, this includes radio or cellular telephone (smartphone) audio capabilities, and may also include complementarytechnologies, such as Bluetooth™ capabilities or related technologies,such as IEEE 802.11, for wireless personal area networks (WPAN).

Another aspect of the augmented audio capabilities includes speechrecognition and identification capabilities. Speech recognition concernsunderstanding what is said while speech identification concernsunderstanding who the speaker is. Speech identification may work hand inhand with the facial recognition capabilities of these devices to morepositively identify persons of interest. As described elsewhere in thisdocument, a camera connected as part of the augmented reality eyepiececan unobtrusively focus on desired personnel, such as a single person ina crowd. Using the camera and appropriate facial recognition software,an image of the person may be taken. The features of the image are thenbroken down into any number of measurements and statistics, and theresults are compared to a database of known persons. An identity maythen be made. In the same manner, a voice or voice sampling from theperson of interest may be taken. The sample may be marked or tagged,e.g., at a particular time interval, and labeled, e.g., a description ofthe person's physical characteristics or a number. The voice sample maybe compared to a database of known persons, and if the person's voicematches, then an identification may be made.

In one embodiment, important characteristics of a particular person'sspeech may be understood from a sample or from many samples of theperson's voice. The samples are typically broken into segments, framesand subframes. Typically, important characteristics include afundamental frequency of the person's voice, energy, formants, speakingrate, and the like. These characteristics are analyzed by software whichanalyses the voice according to certain formulae or algorithms. Thisfield is constantly changing and improving. However, currently suchclassifiers may include algorithms such as neural network classifiers,k-classifiers, hidden Markov models, Gaussian mixture models and patternmatching algorithms, among others.

A general template 3100 for speech recognition and speakeridentification is depicted in FIG. 31. A first step 3101 is to provide aspeech signal. Ideally, one has a known sample from prior encounterswith which to compare the signal. The signal is then digitized in step3102 and is partitioned in step 3103 into fragments, such as segments,frames and subframes. Features and statistics of the speech sample arethen generated and extracted in step 3104. The classifier, or more thanone classifier, is then applied in step 3105 to determine generalclassifications of the sample. Post-processing of the sample may then beapplied in step 3106, e.g., to compare the sample to known samples forpossible matching and identification. The results may then be output instep 3107. The output may be directed to the person requesting thematching, and may also be recorded and sent to other persons and to oneor more databases.

In an embodiment, the audio capabilities of the eyepiece include hearingprotection with the associated earbuds. The audio processor of theeyepiece may enable automatic noise suppression, such as if a loud noiseis detected near the wearer's head. Any of the control technologiesdescribed herein may be used with automatic noise suppression.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece may include a nitinol head strap. Thehead strap may be a thin band of curved metal which may either pull outfrom the arms of the eyepiece or rotate out and extend out to behind thehead to secure the eyepiece to the head. In one embodiment, the tip ofthe nitinol strap may have a silicone cover such that the silicone coveris grasped to pull out from the ends of the arms. In embodiments, onlyone arm has a nitinol band, and it gets secured to the other arm to forma strap. In other embodiments, both arms have a nitinol band and bothsides get pulled out to either get joined to form a strap orindependently grasp a portion of the head to secure the eyepiece on thewearer's head.

Referring to FIG. 21, the eyepiece may include one or more adjustablewrap around extendable arms 2134. The adjustable wrap around extendablearms 2134 may secure the position of the eyepiece to the user's head.One or more of the extendable arms 2134 may be made out of a shapememory material. In embodiments, one or both of the arms may be made ofnitinol and/or any shape-memory material. In other instances, the end ofat least one of the wrap around extendable arms 2134 may be covered withsilicone. Further, the adjustable wrap around extendable arms 2134 mayextend from the end of an eyepiece arm 2116. They may extendtelescopically and/or they may slide out from an end of the eyepiecearms. They may slide out from the interior of the eyepiece arms 2116 orthey may slide along an exterior surface of the eyepiece arms 2116.Further, the extendable arms 2134 may meet and secure to each other. Theextendable arms may also attach to another portion of the head mountedeyepiece to create a means for securing the eyepiece to the user's head.The wrap around extendable arms 2134 may meet to secure to each other,interlock, connect, magnetically couple, or secure by other means so asto provide a secure attachment to the user's head. In embodiments, theadjustable wrap around extendable arms 2134 may also be independentlyadjusted to attach to or grasp portions of the user's head. As such theindependently adjustable arms may allow the user increasedcustomizability for a personalized fit to secure the eyepiece to theuser's head. Further, in embodiments, at least one of the wrap aroundextendable arms 2134 may be detachable from the head mounted eyepiece.In yet other embodiments, the wrap around extendable arms 2134 may be anadd-on feature of the head mounted eyepiece. In such instances, the usermay chose to put extendable, non-extendable or other arms on to the headmounted eyepiece. For example, the arms may be sold as a kit or part ofa kit that allows the user to customize the eyepiece to his or herspecific preferences. Accordingly, the user may customize that type ofmaterial from which the adjustable wrap around extendable arm 2134 ismade by selecting a different kit with specific extendable arms suitedto his preferences. Accordingly, the user may customize his eyepiece forhis particular needs and preferences.

In yet other embodiments, an adjustable strap, 2142, may be attached tothe eyepiece arms such that it extends around the back of the user'shead in order to secure the eyepiece in place. The strap may be adjustedto a proper fit. It may be made out of any suitable material, includingbut not limited to rubber, silicone, plastic, cotton and the like.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece may include security features, such asM-Shield Security, Secure content, DSM, Secure Runtime, IPSec, and thelike. Other software features may include: User Interface, Apps,Framework, BSP, Codecs, Integration, Testing, System Validation, and thelike.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece materials may be chosen to enableruggedization.

In an embodiment, the eyepiece may be able to access a 3G access pointthat includes a 3G radio, an 802.11b connection and a Bluetoothconnection to enable hopping data from a device to a 3G-enableembodiment of the eyepiece.

A further embodiment of the eyepiece may be used to provide biometricdata collection and result reporting. Biometric data may be visualbiometric data, such as facial biometric data or iris biometric data, ormay be audio biometric data. FIG. 39 depicts an embodiment providingbiometric data capture. The assembly, 3900 incorporates the eyepiece100, discussed above in connection with FIG. 1. Eyepiece 100 provides aninteractive head-mounted eyepiece that includes an optical assembly.Other eyepieces providing similar functionality may also be used.Eyepieces may also incorporate global positioning system capability topermit location information display and reporting.

The optical assembly allows a user to view the surrounding environment,including individuals in the vicinity of the wearer. An embodiment ofthe eyepiece allows a user to biometrically identify nearby individualsusing facial images and iris images or both facial and iris images oraudio samples. The eyepiece incorporates a corrective element thatcorrects a user's view of the surrounding environment and also displayscontent provided to the user through in integrated processor and imagesource. The integrated image source introduces the content to bedisplayed to the user to the optical assembly.

The eyepiece also includes an optical sensor for capturing biometricdata. The integrated optical sensor, in an embodiment may incorporate acamera mounted on the eyepiece. This camera is used to capture biometricimages of an individual near the user of the eyepiece. The user directsthe optical sensor or the camera toward a nearby individual bypositioning the eyepiece in the appropriate direction, which may be donejust by looking at the individual. The user may select whether tocapture one or more of a facial image, an iris image, or an audiosample.

The biometric data that may be captured by the eyepiece illustrated inFIG. 39 includes facial images for facial recognition, iris images foriris recognition, and audio samples for voice identification. Theeyepiece 100 incorporates multiple microphones 3902 in an endfire arraydisposed along both the right and left temples of the eyepiece 100. Themicrophone arrays 3902 are specifically tuned to enable capture of humanvoices in an environment with a high level of ambient noise. Microphones3902 provide selectable options for improved audio capture, includingomni-directional operation, or directional beam operation. Directionalbeam operation allows a user to record audio samples from a specificindividual by steering the microphone array in the direction of thesubject individual.

Audio biometric capture is enhanced by incorporating phased array audioand video tracking for audio and video capture. Audio tracking allowsfor continuing to capture an audio sample when the target individual ismoving in an environment with other noise sources.

To provide power for the display optics and biometric data collectionthe eyepiece 100 also incorporates a lithium-ion battery 3904, that iscapable of operating for over twelve hours on a single charge. Inaddition, the eyepiece 100 also incorporates a processor and solid-statememory 3906 for processing the captured biometric data. The processorand memory are configurable to function with any software or algorithmused as part of a biometric capture protocol or format, such as the .wavformat.

A further embodiment of the eyepiece assembly 3900 provides anintegrated communications facility that transmits the captured biometricdata to a remote facility that stores the biometric data in a biometricdata database. The biometric data database interprets the capturedbiometric data, interprets the data, and prepares content for display onthe eyepiece.

In operation, a wearer of the eyepiece desiring to capture biometricdata from a nearby observed individual positions himself or herself sothat the individual appears in the field of view of the eyepiece. Oncein position the user initiates capture of biometric information.Biometric information that may be captured includes iris images, facialimages, and audio data.

In operation, a wearer of the eyepiece desiring to capture audiobiometric data from a nearby observed individual positions himself orherself so that the individual appears is near the eyepiece,specifically, near the microphone arrays located in the eyepiecetemples. Once in position the user initiates capture of audio biometricinformation. This audio biometric information consists of a recordedsample of the target individual speaking Audio samples may be capturedin conjunction with visual biometric data, such as iris and facialimages.

To capture an iris image, the wearer/user observes the desiredindividual and positions the eyepiece such that the optical sensorassembly or camera may collect an image of the biometric parameters ofthe desired individual. Once captured the eyepiece processor andsolid-state memory prepare the captured image for transmission to theremote computing facility for further processing.

The remote computing facility receives the transmitted biometric imageand compares the transmitted image to previously captured images of thesame type. Iris or facial images are compared with previously collectediris or facial images to determine if the individual has been previouslyencountered and identified.

Once the comparison has been made, the remote computing facilitytransmits a report of the comparison to the wearer/user's eyepiece, fordisplay. The report may indicate that the captured biometric imagematches previously captured images. In such cases, the user receives areport including the identity of the individual, along with otheridentifying information or statistics. Not all captured biometric dataallows for an unambiguous determination of identity. In such cases, theremote computing facility provides a report of findings and may requestthe user to collect additional biometric data, possibly of a differenttype, to aid in the identification and comparison process. Visualbiometric data may be supplemented with audio biometric data as afurther aid to identification.

Facial images are captured in a similar manner as iris images. The fieldof view is necessarily larger, due to the size of the images collected.This also permits to user to stand further off from the subject whosefacial biometric data is being captured.

In operation the user may have originally captured a facial image of theindividual. However, the facial image may be incomplete or inconclusivebecause the individual may be wearing clothing or other apparel, such asa hat, that obscures facial features. In such a case, the remotecomputing facility may request that a different type of biometriccapture be used and additional images or data be transmitted. In thecase described above, the user may be directed to obtain an iris imageto supplement the captured facial image. In other instances, theadditional requested data may be an audio sample of the individual'svoice.

FIG. 40 illustrates capturing an iris image for iris recognition. Thefigure illustrates the focus parameters used to analyze the image andincludes a geographical location of the individual at the time ofbiometric data capture. FIG. 40 also depicts a sample report that isdisplayed on the eyepiece.

FIG. 41 illustrates capture of multiple types of biometric data, in thisinstance, facial and iris images. The capture may be done at the sametime, or by request of the remote computing facility if a first type ofbiometric data leads to an inconclusive result.

FIG. 42 shows the electrical configuration of the multiple microphonearrays contained in the temples of the eyepiece of FIG. 39. The endfiremicrophone arrays allow for greater discrimination of signals and betterdirectionality at a greater distance. Signal processing is improved byincorporating a delay into the transmission line of the back microphone.The use of dual omni-directional microphones enables switching from anomni-directional microphone to a directional microphone. This allows forbetter direction finding for audio capture of a desired individual. FIG.43 illustrates the directionality improvements available with multiplemicrophones.

The multiple microphones may be arranged in a composite microphonearray. Instead of using one standard high quality microphone to capturean audio sample, the eyepiece temple pieces house multiple microphonesof different character. One example of multiple microphone use usesmicrophones from cut off cell phones to reproduce the exact electricaland acoustic properties of the individual's voice. This sample is storedfor future comparison in a database. If the individual's voice is latercaptured, the earlier sample is available for comparison, and will bereported to the eyepiece user, as the acoustic properties of the twosamples will match.

FIG. 44 shows the use of adaptive arrays to improve audio data capture.By modifying pre-existing algorithms for audio processing adaptivearrays can be created that allow the user to steer the directionality ofthe antenna in three dimensions. Adaptive array processing permitslocation of the source of the speech, thus tying the captured audio datato a specific individual. Array processing permits simple summing of thecardioid elements of the signal to be done either digitally or usinganalog techniques. In normal use, a user should switch the microphonebetween the omni-directional pattern and the directional array. Theprocessor allows for beamforming, array steering and adaptive arrayprocessing, to be performed on the eyepiece.

In an embodiment, the integrated camera may continuously record a videofile, and the integrated microphone may continuously record an audiofile. The integrated processor of the eyepiece may enable event taggingin long sections of the continuous audio or video recording. Forexample, a full day of passive recording may be tagged whenever anevent, conversation, encounter, or other item of interest takes place.Tagging may be accomplished through the explicit press of a button, anoise or physical tap, a hand gesture, or any other control techniquedescribed herein. A marker may be placed in the audio or video file orstored in a metadata header. In embodiments, the marker may include theGPS coordinate of the event, conversation, encounter, or other item ofinterest. In other embodiments, the marker may be time-synced with a GPSlog of the day. Other logic based triggers can also tag the audio orvideo file such as proximity relationships to other users, devices,locations, or the like.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software, program codes,and/or instructions on a processor. The processor may be part of aserver, client, network infrastructure, mobile computing platform,stationary computing platform, or other computing platform. A processormay be any kind of computational or processing device capable ofexecuting program instructions, codes, binary instructions and the like.The processor may be or include a signal processor, digital processor,embedded processor, microprocessor or any variant such as a co-processor(math co-processor, graphic co-processor, communication co-processor andthe like) and the like that may directly or indirectly facilitateexecution of program code or program instructions stored thereon. Inaddition, the processor may enable execution of multiple programs,threads, and codes. The threads may be executed simultaneously toenhance the performance of the processor and to facilitate simultaneousoperations of the application. By way of implementation, methods,program codes, program instructions and the like described herein may beimplemented in one or more thread. The thread may spawn other threadsthat may have assigned priorities associated with them; the processormay execute these threads based on priority or any other order based oninstructions provided in the program code. The processor may includememory that stores methods, codes, instructions and programs asdescribed herein and elsewhere. The processor may access a storagemedium through an interface that may store methods, codes, andinstructions as described herein and elsewhere. The storage mediumassociated with the processor for storing methods, programs, codes,program instructions or other type of instructions capable of beingexecuted by the computing or processing device may include but may notbe limited to one or more of a CD-ROM, DVD, memory, hard disk, flashdrive, RAM, ROM, cache and the like.

A processor may include one or more cores that may enhance speed andperformance of a multiprocessor. In embodiments, the process may be adual core processor, quad core processors, other chip-levelmultiprocessor and the like that combine two or more independent cores(called a die).

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through a machine that executes computer software on a server,client, firewall, gateway, hub, router, or other such computer and/ornetworking hardware. The software program may be associated with aserver that may include a file server, print server, domain server,internet server, intranet server and other variants such as secondaryserver, host server, distributed server and the like. The server mayinclude one or more of memories, processors, computer readable media,storage media, ports (physical and virtual), communication devices, andinterfaces capable of accessing other servers, clients, machines, anddevices through a wired or a wireless medium, and the like. The methods,programs or codes as described herein and elsewhere may be executed bythe server. In addition, other devices required for execution of methodsas described in this application may be considered as a part of theinfrastructure associated with the server.

The server may provide an interface to other devices including, withoutlimitation, clients, other servers, printers, database servers, printservers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers,social networks, and the like. Additionally, this coupling and/orconnection may facilitate remote execution of program across thenetwork. The networking of some or all of these devices may facilitateparallel processing of a program or method at one or more location. Inaddition, any of the devices attached to the server through an interfacemay include at least one storage medium capable of storing methods,programs, code and/or instructions. A central repository may provideprogram instructions to be executed on different devices. In thisimplementation, the remote repository may act as a storage medium forprogram code, instructions, and programs.

The software program may be associated with a client that may include afile client, print client, domain client, internet client, intranetclient and other variants such as secondary client, host client,distributed client and the like. The client may include one or more ofmemories, processors, computer readable media, storage media, ports(physical and virtual), communication devices, and interfaces capable ofaccessing other clients, servers, machines, and devices through a wiredor a wireless medium, and the like. The methods, programs or codes asdescribed herein and elsewhere may be executed by the client. Inaddition, other devices required for execution of methods as describedin this application may be considered as a part of the infrastructureassociated with the client.

The client may provide an interface to other devices including, withoutlimitation, servers, other clients, printers, database servers, printservers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers andthe like. Additionally, this coupling and/or connection may facilitateremote execution of program across the network. The networking of someor all of these devices may facilitate parallel processing of a programor method at one or more location. In addition, any of the devicesattached to the client through an interface may include at least onestorage medium capable of storing methods, programs, applications, codeand/or instructions. A central repository may provide programinstructions to be executed on different devices. In thisimplementation, the remote repository may act as a storage medium forprogram code, instructions, and programs.

The methods and systems described herein may be deployed in part or inwhole through network infrastructures. The network infrastructure mayinclude elements such as computing devices, servers, routers, hubs,firewalls, clients, personal computers, communication devices, routingdevices and other active and passive devices, modules and/or componentsas known in the art. The computing and/or non-computing device(s)associated with the network infrastructure may include, apart from othercomponents, a storage medium such as flash memory, buffer, stack, RAM,ROM and the like. The processes, methods, program codes, instructionsdescribed herein and elsewhere may be executed by one or more of thenetwork infrastructural elements.

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein andelsewhere may be implemented on a cellular network having multiplecells. The cellular network may either be frequency division multipleaccess (FDMA) network or code division multiple access (CDMA) network.The cellular network may include mobile devices, cell sites, basestations, repeaters, antennas, towers, and the like. The cell networkmay be a GSM, GPRS, 3G, EVDO, mesh, or other networks types.

The methods, programs codes, and instructions described herein andelsewhere may be implemented on or through mobile devices. The mobiledevices may include navigation devices, cell phones, mobile phones,mobile personal digital assistants, laptops, palmtops, netbooks, pagers,electronic books readers, music players and the like. These devices mayinclude, apart from other components, a storage medium such as a flashmemory, buffer, RAM, ROM and one or more computing devices. Thecomputing devices associated with mobile devices may be enabled toexecute program codes, methods, and instructions stored thereon.Alternatively, the mobile devices may be configured to executeinstructions in collaboration with other devices. The mobile devices maycommunicate with base stations interfaced with servers and configured toexecute program codes. The mobile devices may communicate on a peer topeer network, mesh network, or other communications network. The programcode may be stored on the storage medium associated with the server andexecuted by a computing device embedded within the server. The basestation may include a computing device and a storage medium. The storagedevice may store program codes and instructions executed by thecomputing devices associated with the base station.

The computer software, program codes, and/or instructions may be storedand/or accessed on machine readable media that may include: computercomponents, devices, and recording media that retain digital data usedfor computing for some interval of time; semiconductor storage known asrandom access memory (RAM); mass storage typically for more permanentstorage, such as optical discs, forms of magnetic storage like harddisks, tapes, drums, cards and other types; processor registers, cachememory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory; optical storage such asCD, DVD; removable media such as flash memory (e.g. USB sticks or keys),floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punch cards, standalone RAMdisks, Zip drives, removable mass storage, off-line, and the like; othercomputer memory such as dynamic memory, static memory, read/writestorage, mutable storage, read only, random access, sequential access,location addressable, file addressable, content addressable, networkattached storage, storage area network, bar codes, magnetic ink, and thelike.

The methods and systems described herein may transform physical and/oror intangible items from one state to another. The methods and systemsdescribed herein may also transform data representing physical and/orintangible items from one state to another.

The elements described and depicted herein, including in flow charts andblock diagrams throughout the figures, imply logical boundaries betweenthe elements. However, according to software or hardware engineeringpractices, the depicted elements and the functions thereof may beimplemented on machines through computer executable media having aprocessor capable of executing program instructions stored thereon as amonolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or asmodules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, orany combination of these, and all such implementations may be within thescope of the present disclosure. Examples of such machines may include,but may not be limited to, personal digital assistants, laptops,personal computers, mobile phones, other handheld computing devices,medical equipment, wired or wireless communication devices, transducers,chips, calculators, satellites, tablet PCs, electronic books, gadgets,electronic devices, devices having artificial intelligence, computingdevices, networking equipments, servers, routers, processor-embeddedeyewear and the like. Furthermore, the elements depicted in the flowchart and block diagrams or any other logical component may beimplemented on a machine capable of executing program instructions.Thus, while the foregoing drawings and descriptions set forth functionalaspects of the disclosed systems, no particular arrangement of softwarefor implementing these functional aspects should be inferred from thesedescriptions unless explicitly stated or otherwise clear from thecontext. Similarly, it will be appreciated that the various stepsidentified and described above may be varied, and that the order ofsteps may be adapted to particular applications of the techniquesdisclosed herein. All such variations and modifications are intended tofall within the scope of this disclosure. As such, the depiction and/ordescription of an order for various steps should not be understood torequire a particular order of execution for those steps, unless requiredby a particular application, or explicitly stated or otherwise clearfrom the context.

The methods and/or processes described above, and steps thereof, may berealized in hardware, software or any combination of hardware andsoftware suitable for a particular application. The hardware may includea general purpose computer and/or dedicated computing device or specificcomputing device or particular aspect or component of a specificcomputing device. The processes may be realized in one or moremicroprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers,programmable digital signal processors or other programmable device,along with internal and/or external memory. The processes may also, orinstead, be embodied in an application specific integrated circuit, aprogrammable gate array, programmable array logic, or any other deviceor combination of devices that may be configured to process electronicsignals. It will further be appreciated that one or more of theprocesses may be realized as a computer executable code capable of beingexecuted on a machine readable medium.

The computer executable code may be created using a structuredprogramming language such as C, an object oriented programming languagesuch as C++, or any other high-level or low-level programming language(including assembly languages, hardware description languages, anddatabase programming languages and technologies) that may be stored,compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well asheterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, orcombinations of different hardware and software, or any other machinecapable of executing program instructions.

Thus, in one aspect, each method described above and combinationsthereof may be embodied in computer executable code that, when executingon one or more computing devices, performs the steps thereof. In anotheraspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the stepsthereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, orall of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalonedevice or other hardware. In another aspect, the means for performingthe steps associated with the processes described above may include anyof the hardware and/or software described above. All such permutationsand combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

While the present disclosure includes many embodiments shown anddescribed in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon willbecome readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, thespirit and scope of the present invention is not to be limited by theforegoing examples, but is to be understood in the broadest senseallowable by law.

All documents referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

1. An apparatus for audio biometric data capture, comprising: aninteractive head-mounted eyepiece worn by a user, wherein the eyepieceincludes an optical assembly through which the user views a surroundingenvironment and displayed content, wherein the optical assemblycomprises a corrective element that corrects the user's view of thesurrounding environment, an integrated processor for handling contentfor display to the user, and an integrated image source for introducingthe content to the optical assembly, an integrated optical sensorassembly for capturing visual biometric data; an endfire microphonearray of multiple microphones mounted in the interactive head-mountedeyepiece; and an integrated communications facility that transmits thecaptured visual biometric data to a facility that stores the visualbiometric data in a biometric data database, interprets the visualbiometric data, generates display content based on the captured visualbiometric data, and the interpretation, and delivers the display contentto the eyepiece.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the integratedoptical sensor includes a camera mounted on the eyepiece for obtainingvisual biometric images of an individual proximate to the eyepiece, andwherein the integrated communications facility includes a transmissionfacility for transmitting obtained visual biometric images to a remotecomputing facility, wherein the transmitted visual biometric data iscompared to previously stored visual biometric data for personalidentification purposes, wherein a match indicative of a positiveidentification will result in data being communicated to the eyepiecesuch that the displayed content includes an indication of theidentification.
 3. A method for audio biometric data capture,comprising: positioning an individual proximate to an eyepiececontaining multiple microphones; capturing audio biometric data from theindividual positioned proximate to the eyepiece, wherein the audiobiometric data is a speech sample; transmitting the captured audiobiometric data to a facility that stores the captured audio biometricdata in a biometric data database; interpreting the captured audiobiometric data; generating display content based on the interpretationof the captured audio biometric data; and transmitting the displaycontent to the eyepiece for display to a user.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the display content comprises a report of results of theinterpretation of the captured audio biometric data.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the report indicates that the individual proximate tothe eyepiece has previously captured audio biometric data stored in thebiometric data database.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the reportindicates that the individual proximate to the eyepiece may or may nothave previously captured audio biometric data stored in the biometricdata database.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the report indicatesthat the individual proximate to the eyepiece does not have previouslycaptured audio biometric data stored in the biometric data database. 8.The method of claim 3, wherein the report requests the user to captureadditional biometric data, wherein the biometric data requested if of adifferent type.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the additionalbiometric data requested is an iris image and an audio sample.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the additional biometric data requested is afacial image or an iris image or an audio sample.
 11. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the additional biometric data requested is a facialimage and an audio sample.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein theadditional biometric data requested is an iris image and a facial image.13. The method of claim 3, wherein capturing audio biometric data uses amicrophone array in an omni-directional pattern.
 14. The method of claim3, wherein capturing audio biometric data uses a microphone array in adirectional pattern.
 15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multiplemicrophones are an adaptive array.